The owners of The Eldridge Hotel put up a patriotic addition to the downtown Lawrence skyline Thursday.

An American flag, measuring 12 feet by 8 feet, began flying from the roof of the hotel at 701 Mass.

“We wanted to have something that kind of helped break up the skyline downtown,” desk clerk Brandon Naylor said. “It will be visible from pretty much anywhere unless you are standing directly next to the Eldridge.”

The flag pole was constructed Tuesday, Naylor said, and the hotel waited until Thursday to fly it after obtaining a city permit. Lights will illuminate the flag at night, he said.

Two people who passed by Thursday gave their approval.

“I just like the American flag. I like it big. The bigger the better,” said Matt McCoy, of Lawrence.

“You can’t go wrong with an American flag. You can put it just about anywhere,” said Brian Pollack, of Lawrence.

Naylor said the hotel plans to add a Kansas University flag.

The new addition to the roof comes about a year after an investment group bought the hotel. The hotel’s owners include Mitchell and Susan Chaney, of Brownsville, Texas, who married after meeting as employees of the hotel in the 1970s; families and business associates of longtime Lawrence businesses Gene Fritzel Construction Co. Inc. and Joel Fritzel Construction; Frank Sabatini, owner of Capital City Bank, and his son, Lawrence architect Dan Sabatini.