After a year and a half of work, renovated Savoy to open

  • The Savoy dining room can seat perhaps 80 patrons, owner Chet Hitt estimates. The antique bar in the background had been adorned with “The Savoy Hotel est. 1902” hand-painted in gold leaf by Carrie Chavers, a retired Chickasha art teacher. Mike W. Ray | Southwest Ledger
    The Savoy dining room can seat perhaps 80 patrons, owner Chet Hitt estimates. The antique bar in the background had been adorned with “The Savoy Hotel est. 1902” hand-painted in gold leaf by Carrie Chavers, a retired Chickasha art teacher. Mike W. Ray | Southwest Ledger
  • Retired Chickasha art teacher Carrie Chavers decorated this antique safe in the renovated Savoy Hotel building in Old Town Chickasha. She said she spent eight hours just painting the gold leaf. The unit was built by The Safe Cabinet Co. of Marietta, Ohio (1905-1926). Chavers coated the safe with polyurethane to protect it and make it shine. Mike W. Ray | Southwest Ledger
    Retired Chickasha art teacher Carrie Chavers decorated this antique safe in the renovated Savoy Hotel building in Old Town Chickasha. She said she spent eight hours just painting the gold leaf. The unit was built by The Safe Cabinet Co. of Marietta, Ohio (1905-1926). Chavers coated the safe with polyurethane to protect it and make it shine. Mike W. Ray | Southwest Ledger
  • This “Wilson’s BBQ” sign salvaged from Anadarko hangs on the Savoy’s east wall. Mike W. Ray | Southwest Ledger
    This “Wilson’s BBQ” sign salvaged from Anadarko hangs on the Savoy’s east wall. Mike W. Ray | Southwest Ledger

    CHICKASHA – Developer Chet Hitt said he intends to have the Savoy 1902 BBQ and Deli open for business by Sept. 28.

    Hitt, who was born in California but graduated from Anadarko High School in 1982, bought the abandoned Savoy Hotel at First Street and Chickasha Avenue in 2023 and began renovating the building.

    After 18 long months, the job is almost complete. “It has taken longer than I expected” to rehabilitate the 122-year-old, two-story property, which contains a combined total of almost 15,000 square feet of floor space, Hitt said. And it’s been expensive: at least $1.3 million – if not more – he told Southwest Ledger.

    The Savoy is “the showpiece of our operations here,” Hitt said. “It will be the showcase of the 100 block” in downtown Chickasha.

    Particle board material laced with asbestos was removed from the ceiling and replaced with copper tin tiles. Pipes for an overhead sprinkler system were installed.

    New electric wiring has been installed throughout the Savoy.

    Nearly the entire wooden ground floor of the Savoy building was torn out and rebuilt, and permanent hardwood flooring was installed.

    Beneath the first floor, new water lines were installed to the kitchen, the bar, and the restrooms – which were remodeled in an antique style that includes high-tank chainpull flush toilets.

    A smoker that’s approximately 11 feet wide, 5 feet high and 6 feet deep, has been installed on the east wall. Hitt will use three types of wood – oak, for heat; pecan, for “sweetness”; and hickory, for its scene – for cooking the meat.

    A 20-foot-long bar built in the late 1800s is positioned on the west wall. “I think we can seat 80 patrons” in the dining area and accommodate a dozen bar stools, Hitt said.

    Pallet wood paneling is visible on walls throughout the building.

    Quarter-inch-thick steel framing to support new windows in the front of the Savoy Hotel was constructed onsite. Clear glass panes were installed in the frames, and each window can be opened “to allow a cool breeze to blow through” in the spring and fall, Hitt said.

    The upper floor of the Savoy sagged 3 inches until Jason Knowles of Dynamic Fabrication in Chickasha, assisted by Hitt’s construction foreman, Rene Umana, installed steel I-beams to provide support.

    Hitt also bought the building next door, which formerly housed The Speak bar and lounge. He plans to “gut and remodel” that building, too, for use as an event center for banquets and parties.

    Hitt’s “Old Town” redevelopment plans began with acquisition and renovation of the two-story, 3,802 squarefoot Mill Building across the street from the Savoy in early 2023. He also leased the Rock Island Railroad Depot, bought and renovated the building that housed Canadian River Brewery, and bought the abandoned Livestock Nutrition Center grain elevator and a nearby brick building.