bankrupt in 1989. Demolition of the hotel was considered. By the time the Davenports' only son died in 1987, it was generally believed that the Davenport Hotel would be destroyed. A demolition crew determined the entire block could be dropped in 20 seconds but the nightmare of airborne asbestos saved it from implosion. Due to the potential cost of removing the asbestos covering all the building's original plumbing, demolition was determined to be more expensive than the value of the resulting lot. A citizens' group called Friends of the Davenport was founded in 1986 by City Council member (and future Spokane mayor) Sheri Barnard, with the goal of saving the hotel. They held annual fund raisers in the lobby of the shuttered hotel and sought a buyer to restore it. In 1990, they found a potential savior, in Hong Kong businessman Patrick Wai-Meng Ng. His Sun International Hotels & Properties bought the hotel for $5.25 million. Ng began phased renovations, including the restoration of the lobby's skylight, but was unable to reopen the property. Restoration and reopening In March 2000, local entrepreneurs Walt & Karen Worthy purchased the entire city block for $6.5 million, then spent two years and $38 million ($ in dollars) of their own money to restore The Davenport. The hotel's public spaces and ballrooms were restored to their original appearance, with real gold leaf around the fireplace. The hotel's guest floors were stripped to bare concrete and rebuilt, with fresh wiring, plumbing, drywall, furniture and fixtures. Salvaging the Hall of Doges from the old structure required the removal of the whole ballroom intact by crane and placing it on the second floor of the hotel's new east addition just outside the Grand Pennington ballroom. The Davenport Hotel reopened on July 15, 2002 and celebrated its grand reopening from September 13–15, 2002 with the ringing of a ship's bell eight times signaling a change of the watch. Facilities The Davenport Hotel has 284 guest rooms including 37 suites and has of exhibit space and is equipped with 22 meeting rooms totaling of meeting space. The guest rooms range from for a standard guest room to for the Presidential Suite. and the meeting rooms range in size from the Grand Pennington Ballroom to the Elizabethan Room. The Historic Davenport has two restaurants, the Palm Court Grill and the Peacock Lounge for dining options as well as an espresso