In a private "works project" to provide employment to men out of work, S.H. Smith, Sr. decided to replace the Armstrong Hotel. After demolishing it, he employed many people to help build the towering Greystone Hotel at the corner of Broad and East Second streets. The "Rome News-Tribune" reported on November 30, 1933, an increase in local building permits for a total of $95,800; of this amount, $85,000 were invested by S.H. Smith, Sr., in the construction of the Greystone Hotel. He added the Greystone Apartments in 1936.