History
The Contemporary Resort is one of two resorts located on property when Walt Disney World opened in 1971. Before the construction of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, it was considered the complex's flagship resort.
The Contemporary Tower, the most prominent of the resort's four stand-alone buildings, was built as an A-frame with outer walls which slope inwards around an inner atrium. This design was a collaboration by Disney, the United States Steel Corporation, and Los Angeles architect Welton Becket. To construct the building, steel frames were erected on-site and modular pre-constructed rooms, designed by California architect Donald Wexler, were lifted into place by crane. Most of Disney's Polynesian Resort and the Court of Flags Resort were built the same way, except rooms were stacked instead of slid in.
On November 17, 1973, President Richard Nixon delivered his famous "I am not a crook" speech in a ballroom at the Contemporary in front of reporters from the Associated Press.
In 2005, Disney began an extensive renovation of Disney's Contemporary Resort, and was completed in 2009. The project saw the updating of the main lobby and all guest rooms, the addition of several restaurants and gift shops, and the demolition of the hotel's north wing to make way for the Bay Lake Tower, which opened in 2009.
Read more about this topic: Disney's Contemporary Resort
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