Those Who Call the Tivoli Home

If the Tivoli Hotel defies a singular description, perhaps that's because its 40-plus residents seek the shelter of its confines for a variety of reasons.  

For some, it’s the only housing that they can afford. For others, it’s a stepping stone on their way up.  Some seek its privacy and appreciate its security, others need the extended community. Some pass through in a week or two; others come and stay for decades.

“Every once in awhile, someone will tell me we bring the wrong kind of people to Downers Grove," said Willis Johnson. "But these are people who need a home, and we provide a home. It’s clean and well maintained, and we’re very comfortable with it. We are good members of the community.”

Johnson owns Tivoli Enterprises, which includes the Tivoli Hotel, Tivoli Theatre, Tivoli Lanes, a dozen other movie theaters, and some commercial properties.  He purchased the 1920s building which includes the theatre and hotel, in 1976. For several years prior, Johnson was a resident of the hotel, having moved in when he needed an inexpensive place to stay during his separation from his first wife.

“It was $32 per week to live there, and so I did,” said Johnson, a Downers Grove resident.  When he remarried, he and his new wife lived in an apartment in the building for more than 20 years. His ties to the historical icon, as well as to the unique service that it provides to the community, are strong.

The weekly rate at the hotel currently is $155. For that amount, residents get a single room, clean linens, a full bath, a telephone, and five-days per week of mandatory maid service. They also have access to the hotel’s laundry room and microwave oven.

“It’s easy to move in," Johnson said. "You don’t have to have furniture; you don’t even have to have linens. You don’t need your own telephone; the utilities are all paid. It’s very easy. That was one of the reasons that I started living here, because it was affordable. But it’s also very easy. There’s no cooking. It’s an easy way of life."

“There are just no worries," he said. "The hotel takes care of basically everything from a living standpoint. The lights are always on, the heat is always on, the rooms are always clean.”

Despite the low cost of the room rental, the management of the hotel is very discriminating in terms of its accepted clientele, Johnson said. It’s a practice they take seriously and troublemakers are not tolerated.

Plagued in earlier years by disturbances by unruly residents, the hotel has a long do-not-rent list. Furthermore, because it only permits rental by the week, it is not stuck with residents that it does not want living there. “Without question, the Tivoli Hotel is safe,” Johnson said.

As an additional safeguard to maintaining the security of the building, the front desk is staffed round the clock, and the clerk strictly monitors all visitors. “Any guest here needs to sign in and out and show a photo ID,” said an employee who wished to remain anonymous.

“We lock the door at 10 p.m. and no one comes in without us knowing,” said Bob Redic, the hotel manager who has worked at the Tivoli for more than 10 years. “I’m not going to say that there’s never been an incident or dispute." 

"You have 40 adults living in the same place; no matter how much they’re paying for it, you’re bound to have people bump into each other," Johnson said. "But we don’t have anything more than any other building this size.” 

The staff consciously promotes a sense of community. “A lot of the residents, particularly the elderly, are isolated," said the anonymous employee. "We’re a little community, more so than a regular apartment where you may never meet your neighbor. A fair number of the residents are rootless.  We encourage community. We like for people to hang out together. They can go down to the basement, or hang out in the lobby where there’s a referee, the desk clerk.  There’s no cursing or swearing there. It’s a guaranteed civility spot.”

The hotel staff keeps a very protective eye on residents. A number of senior citizens and people with health issues live at the Tivoli. Many don’t have family in the area. “If someone doesn’t come downstairs at the regular time, we notice,” said the hotel employee. “We get an idea of peoples’ rhythms.”

Brad Meyer, a resident at the Tivoli for the past two years, is testament to this. The 55-year old, who is on disability, moved to the Tivoli because of chronic health problems.

“I had been in the hospital a lot and needed a place to go," he said. "I couldn’t go back and live by myself." As a resident of the Tivoli Hotel, “if people don’t see me, they knock on my door or call me," he said. "Everyone watches out for everyone else.  Half of the people in the hotel are always offering to help.”

When Meyer was recovering recently in a nursing home, staff members and residents came to visit, he said. “It’s an extended family.”

An elderly gentleman, who has lived at the Tivoli for more than 15 years, owns and operates a successful limousine service. “He doesn’t have to live here because of the money,” said Meyer, “He likes it here and likes to have people around. He’s very kindhearted.” Meyer said the gentleman has helped him out when needed with transportation.

From his perspective, the Tivoli has been a near-perfect home, Meyer said. Its close proximity to the train and other public transportation permits the residents, many of whom don’t own cars, to get around.

“You just step out the door and the train is there,” he said.

The lack of air conditioning is the only drawback , he said. “But you just put on your fan, or you go bowling or to the show or to the library,” 

Air conditioning has not been added because of the hotel wiring. Johnson certainly could have upgraded the hotel and charged more premium rates through the years but has decided not to do so, he said.  

“I’m committed to the service that we’re providing," he said. "It’s something that is necessary. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have a waiting list.”

He resists raising room rates. “We do need to do what’s right for the clientele that we have. It has to be affordable. We cover our expenses and make a profit and that’s at the point that we are. I haven’t raised the rates in one and-a-half or two years because times have been tough economically,” he said.

Because the Tivoli Hotel often has a waiting list, Johnson is currently planning to renovate his former apartment and an additional apartment into 12 additional single rooms—a plan that was approved by the Village Council last month.

The staff takes exception to the term “transient hotel,” largely because the average stay is over three years—and for some even longer. One resident lived at the Tivoli for 43 years before the staff ultimately had to place him in a nursing home because there were no family members around to do so.

“People live here," said the hotel employee."This is not transient, it’s peoples’ home. It’s where they live. Some people pass through, but most are here because they want to live here.”

Historical facts:

• The Tivoli Theater opened its doors on Christmas Day 1928 and it’s believed that the Tivoli Hotel opened the following year.
• The Tivoli Hotel originally had a restaurant on the second floor. That was converted into an office and then into apartments.
• The board of administration office for Downers Grove grade and high schools was located at the Tivoli Hotel for 18 years
• When the Tivoli Hotel opened, it was one of two downtown hotels, the other being where Station Crossing is.
• Willis Johnson grew up two blocks away from the Tivoli. His sister still lives in the family home.
• With its close proximity to the train, it was thought that the Tivoli Hotel would help Downers Grove become a tourist destination.
• The elevator in the Tivoli Hotel was the first in Downers Grove. Its inspection number is #1.
• The Tivoli Bowling Lanes is the longest continuous bowling alley in Downers Grove.