The Riceland Hotel opened in 1923 and served as the center of social life in Stuttgart for decades. The five-story hotel once welcomed notable guests like Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Pulitzer and Clark Gable. The hotel was designed by noted architect George R. Mann, and it included a rooftop garden that featured dancing on Friday nights and was advertised as being ldquo;Cool and above the mosquitoes.rdquo; According to local legend, a party here in the early 1960s got so out of control that a piano was thrown from the roof by a group of drunken revelers. br/ br/The Riceland Hotel closed in 1970, but it is still the tallest building along Stuttgartrsquo;s Main Street. The boarded-up windows hide the once-ornate lobby, which is covered with dirt and debris. The interior walls are marred by vandalism and graffiti, and the floors covered with broken plaster and wood. The upper floors contain significant water damage due to leaks in the roof, which allow rainwater to percolate throughout the building. br/br/ br/ Taken: 2017