The Downtown YMCA opened this ten-story Renaissance Revival building in 1926, designed by local architects Louis LaBeaume and Eugene Klein to house recreation and employment services for men affected by industrialization. In 1929, Jefferson College moved into the lower floors, running vocational programs that expanded during the Great Depression to help workers left unemployed.
The YMCA operated out of the building for over 90 years before relocating in 2016, leaving the structure with a swimming pool and running track still built into its bones. 21c Museum Hotels took it on as its eighth property, working with architects Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel to convert it into 173 rooms and a contemporary art museum while keeping the original grand staircase and plasterwork. It joined Historic Hotels of America in 2023.