McHugh Completes Renovation of Historic Blackstone Hotel

CHICAGO, Mar. 27 /PRNewswire/ --

CHICAGO, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- James McHugh Construction Co. has completed a sweeping renovation of Chicago's Blackstone Hotel, a national historic landmark, McHugh officials announced.

Denver-based owner Sage Hospitality Resources has reopened the 98-year-old hotel as part of the Marriott Renaissance chain. McHugh worked with architect Lucien Lagrange & Associates, Chicago, and interior designer The Gettys Group, Chicago, along with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Chicago, as exterior renovation engineers.

The massive renovation of the 23-story structure began in May 2006, with most of the hotel gutted to its skeleton save for the historic areas to be carefully restored. The Blackstone now features 332 guest rooms, along with meeting rooms, board rooms, and public spaces.

Completed in 1910, the Blackstone was designed by Marshall & Fox. The Modern French Beaux Arts-style building has hosted 12 U.S. presidents.

Among the historic areas restored to their original grandeur were the main lobby, with its fireplace, mahogany trim, plaster detailing and original wall sconces; the Crystal Ballroom overlooking Grant Park; and the Art Hall, English Room and lower-level barber shop, all converted into meeting space.

The extensive nature of the renovation shows in many details, including the elaborate brass wall sconces that McHugh refinished. When originals could not be salvaged, the team worked with specialty contractors to create duplicates. In other historic areas, McHugh removed decades-old carpeting to find the marble floors underneath damaged by carpet tacks. The team repaired the floors by salvaging the hard-to-match marble from other, less-visible parts of the hotel.

While reconstruction of a century-old building is bound to turn up unexpected issues, the most significant one was positive, said Brian Hardy, McHugh project manager. "The biggest surprise was that the Blackstone is unbelievably well built," Hardy said.

The historic hotel now includes some new spaces. The top floor, underneath its distinctive mansard roof, lay unfinished since its 1910 opening-until now. It now features three penthouse suites with the original porthole windows and new skylights to illuminate the 20-foot ceiling heights, along with a concierge-level lounge that includes a library, fireplace and upholstered window seats.

McHugh reconfigured every guest floor to create entirely new hotel rooms complete with modern amenities such as televisions embedded into bathroom mirrors. The building received all-new plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling, and fire protection systems, including sprinklers. All basement levels were reconfigured, with new mechanical spaces, offices and kitchens. McHugh also preserved and repaired the hotel's terra cotta cladding and mansard roof, and replaced every window and storefront.

The Blackstone represents McHugh's latest in a string of dramatic Chicago hotel renovations, including the Four Seasons Chicago, the Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro, Hotel 71, and the Hotel Monaco and Hotel Allegro. Last year, McHugh reported more than 1.1 million square feet of hospitality work. Founded in 1897, McHugh is one of Chicago's oldest and largest general contracting, construction management and consulting firms. More information is available at http://www.mchughconstruction.com