Legionnaire's Disease, the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, and Ronald Rubin

So, the Bellevue in Philadelphia is a beloved local landmark.  It opened in 1904 as a hotel, it was a big deal, royalty and celebrities stayed there, etc.  After WWII it became a little schlokey, but it was still ticking along, until 1976, when there was a conference for American Foreign Legion veterans.  They got badly sick, and started dying.   Turns out, the hotel had not cleaned its air-exchangers in awhile.  So long in fact, that a formerly unknown type of bacteria grew, and was blown around with the A/C.  Shortly thereafter, the hotel closed.  The next year, scientists figured out what was going on, and building codes around the country were amended to require 1) cleaning and replacement of air filters ans exchangers and 2) regularly opening the exchangers to let fresh air circulate around the building.  The hotel shortly thereafter ceased operating.  It seems the old owners abandoned the property - I can't readily find any evidence that they declared bankruptcy.

Ron Rubin bought the vacant hotel two years after the event, renovated it, and reopened it.  Almost ten years later, in 1986, he had to renovate it again because the hotel was still too scary from the Legionnaire's outbreak for anyone to want to stay there.  He also renovated it in 1986 and 2007.  What the news doesn't say, but was common knowledge amongst long-time employees of PREIT (which is headquartered in the building), is that Ron did the City of Philadelphia a huge favor when he bought the hotel.  Nobody wanted this hotel - it was a stigmatic property.  It's an old building and could not survive multiple years with no maintenance.  This hotel was an important cultural and historic landmark in a very visible location of Philadelphia (two blocks from City Hall, and across from the Opera House, etc.), and the City was nearly forced to condemn it for demolition (a historical commission nightmare).  The City bent over backwards to get Ron to buy it.  After he did so, he was generally considered to be a hero in Philadelphia, and he remains probably the most highly regarded real estate developer in the City since Ben Franklin.

The wikipedia entry for the Bellevue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bellevue-Stratford_Hotel

Coverage of the 1986 (2nd) renovation (note also the article about how gold prices have surged to $400):
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19790928&id=chdUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Po0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6834,4671593

More background from the 1986 renovation:
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1986/Renovation-Plans-For-Bellevue-Stratford-Hotel-Unveiled/id-633c17f15bbae5fe25c1eb1e695091e2