Workers began the demolition of the Lotus Cafe building in downtown Portland on Thursday. (Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive)

Demolition began Thursday on downtown's Lotus Café building, marking the end of another bit of Portland history.

The building opened in 1906 at the corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Salmon Street as the Hotel Albion. But the building was most-known for the Lotus Café and Cardroom, which opened in 1924, and continued to be a popular nightspot until its closure in 2016.

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The Hotel Lotus building, as seen in 1976 just before it was closed for fire-code violations. (Roger Jensen, The Oregonian)

The hotel would later adopt the Lotus name, and there were rumors that it housed a Depression-era brothel. The hotel eventually became a run-down place where people could rent rooms for $100 a month. The hotel was closed in 1976 for fire-code violations.

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The Lotus Cardroom in 1963. (Oregonian file photo)

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The Lotus was a popular spot for dancing in the 1990s. (Joel Davis, The Oregonian/OregonLive)

Not many nightspots last for 92 years, but the Lotus Café had staying power, starting out as a Prohibition era as a soda bar. When Prohibition was lifted, the Lotus became a popular after-work drinking spot, notable for an antique cherry-wood bar made in the 1880s by the Chicago-based Brunswick Company, and shipped to Portland around South America's Cape Horn.

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The Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

The Lotus' peak may have been in the early 1990s, when DJs kept the dance floor filled. Part of what attracted the big crowds was its affordability. In 1992, the nightly cover charge was just $2.

The Lotus building will be replaced by a 10-story office building with ground-floor retail. The adjacent surface parking lot to the east of the Lotus building will have a 20-floor boutique hotel featuring a rooftop pool and bar, along with two restaurants.

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People celebrate Fat Tuesday at the Lotus Cafe in 2004. (The Oregonian/OregonLive file photo)

Last year saw the demolition of the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple, which was built in 1892 and occupied the northeast corner of the same block as the Lotus. Construction is underway at that site for a 10-story office building.

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On Thursday, demolition workers removed a canvas billboard that had covered up a mural. (Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive)

As demolition of the Lotus building got underway Thursday, workers uncovered a large mural that had been covered with canvas billboards in recent years.

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Related

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Collage by Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive

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-- Grant Butler

gbutler@oregonian.com

503-221-8566; @grantbutler

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