The Intercontinental (formerly Radisson) Hotel, at 505 N. Michigan Avenue on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, was originally built as the Medinah Athletic Club in 1929 at a cost of $8 million. The architect was Walter Ahlschlager. Unfortunately it became a victim of the depression and fell into receivership in 1932. It was eventually reopened as a hotel, with several owners over the intervening years. While it was a Sheraton Hotel, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as part of the Michigan-Wacker Historic District - see (
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The Smithsonian database documents the three reliefs visible from Michigan Avenue on the south, west and north facades at the eighth floor level. (As with many other such architectural artwork in Chicago, it pays to look up!) The carvings, in the Assyrian style, are entitled Contribution (south wall), Wisdom (west wall) and Consecration (north wall). (NOTE: The resources cited below (Emporis and Wikipedia) have mixed up the west and north walls – I have notified them to correct.) FYI the west frieze facing Michigan Avenue is 175 ft long.
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune from Sept 16, 1928 entitled “Building art inspires panels”:
“The friezes were designed by George Unger, in collaboration with Walter Ahlschlager, and carved by Leon Hermant. The figures are costumed in the period of the building, which is that of an old fortress in Mesopotamia in Xerxes time, about 5th century BC. The theme of the panels as explained by Mr. Unger, was inspired by the history of construction of any building. The south panel starts the story. Here a magnificent cortege is displayed. This panel, termed Contribution, signifies the getting together of treasures for the construction of the building. In the west panel, facing Michigan Avenue, a ruler is shown with his counselors and an architect is shown bringing in a model of the building planned. The north panel shows the consecration of the building after it has been built. A priest is sacrificing a white bull whose blood will be mixed with crushed grapes and poured into the earth. A monkey trainer and his animals are shown. Since the animals represented bigotry in the ancient drawings, they are shown here in leash as symbolic belief that bigotry has no place in the Masonic order.”
NOTE: Three “Sumerian warriors” were also carved into the 12th floor setback on the south and west sides, but surprisingly these are not included in the Smithsonian database.
The history, internal features and external art of the building are extensively documented by a number of excellent sources, presented below. A visit inside looks like it would be very worthwhile after your view of the reliefs from the outside!
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Welcome to the InterContinental Chicago, one of the most beautiful landmark hotels in history. With its unique architecture and cultural diversity, it was originally built in 1929 as the Medinah Athletic Club, a luxury men's club for members of the Shrine organization. Unfortunately, in 1934 the club had been a victim of the stock-market crash and was forced to close its doors.
InterContinental Hotels, renowned for its international portfolio of extraordinary restorations, bought the property in 1988, and immediately began renovations. A quarter of a billion dollars and 12 years later, this truly magnificent InterContinental Chicago hotel was re-introduced to Chicago.
It was the contribution of the original athletic club's 1930 yearbook, the SCIMITAR, which guided the original restoration work. Donated by a club member, the book was of invaluable assistance during the restoration process. Its black-and-white photographs were used to duplicate and restore entire rooms, right down to the detailing in draperies, carpets, and murals. Completed in 2001, the four-story lobby, with grand staircase and cast bronze ornamentation, has resulted in harmonious merging of old-world elegance with 21st-century craftsmanship. Today, each floor of the hotel represents a myriad of cultures and eras. The public areas available for viewing provide a glimpse of the rich history of the building.
As guests pass through the bronze doorway on Michigan Avenue, they are welcomed by the Shriner's original greeting, etched in marble between two columns. The greeting, "ES SALUMU ALEIKUM" means "Peace be to God," a salutation still used by Shriner's today. At the tops of the two large marble columns are medieval hooded and sleeping knights. The ceilings are painted in dark tones with Celtic and Mesopotamian motifs. The lion, the fish, the eagle, and the Assyrian bull were used to typify the highest powers of nature.
The Hall of Lions is Assyrian in Design. Many layers of paint were removed during the restoration process to review the two marble lions. The lions were uncovered with an unusual method known as cornhusk blasting. Since traditional sandblasting would have destroyed the intricate details in the design, actual cornhusks were ground and blasted at the lions to remove the paint while retaining the details in the carving.
Marble steps lead to an elaborately carved terra-cotta fountain with a backdrop of Spanish Majolica tile. A Shriner's inscription, "All Waters Run into the Sea" flanks both sides of a stone replica of King Solomon's head at the fountain's peak. The family crests of the original founders of the Medinah Athletic Club decorate each step.
The King Arthur Foyer and Court bring you to a world of knights in shining armor. Knights in colorful uniform line the ceilings of the painstakingly restored arched entryway and guard entry to the King Arthur Court. Inside the court, a series of colorful paintings depict the life of King Arthur, as well as scenes of later Christian events and daily life in Gothic times. Elaborately carved wooden beams line the walls, providing a masculine feeling, indicative of their original use as the Men's Smoking Room.
The Spanish Tea Court was created to the represent the Spanish era of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Its focal point is an ornate fountain lined with the original Spanish Majolica tile. The blue ceiling was meant to represent the sky and create the ambiance of an outdoor tea court. This was one of the few areas in which women were allowed unescorted when the property was the Medinah Athletic Club.
Beyond the mirrored doors on the west wall is the Renaissance Room. Designed to depict the indulgence and extravagance of the French Renaissance during the era of Louis XVI, this is one of the most opulent meeting spaces in the hotel. The walls are paneled from floor to ceiling with imported Carpathian Elm Burl wood, a wood so rare it would be impossible to replace. Ceiling beams are hand-painted with Renaissance motifs and are lit with the five original Baccarat crystal chandeliers.
The Grand Ballroom is the site of some of Chicago's most elaborate weddings and events. Located on the seventh floor, with a balcony on the eighth floor, the Grand Ballroom is magnificent for both its unusual elliptical shape and its many architectural details. Around the ceiling of the ballroom are 37 hand-painted murals of classical landscape scenes that were taken down and restored by the same restoration artist who consulted on the restoration of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. He also added 24-karat gold leaf to the moldings surrounding the paintings and the 12,000-pound Baccarat crystal chandelier, which is the largest in North America.
Directly above the Grand Ballroom is the hotel's famous junior Olympic swimming pool. Although the original athletic club facilities included a gymnasium, running track, bowling alley, golf driving range and archery range, the pool is the only element to survive the many changes over the years. Considered an engineering feat when it was built in 1929 because it was above ground, the pool is 25 meters long, and holds 120,000 gallons of water. It has had many famous visitors, including Olympic gold medalist and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller.
The terra-cotta fountain of Neptune on the east wall of the pool area is lined with brilliant blue Spanish Majolica tile. The fish-scaled design windows at both ends of the pool cast a glittering light resembling a school of silvery fish on the water. Rows of seating on the west end of the pool area recall the era when swimming was a spectator sport at the Medinah Athletic Club.
The InterContinental Chicago is the only North Michigan Avenue hotel with a main entrance on the boulevard. The floor is tiled with iridescent, handcrafted mosaic tiles made of onyx and marble. The ceiling of the four-story rotunda features tiny stars and lighting that change to reflect the time of day.
The designs on the cast-bronze friezes along the handrail of the grand staircase are taken from the hotel's original use as the Medinah Athletic Club. Just off the lobby is Zest, the only street-level restaurant on Michigan Avenue and a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. Zest's menu features Moroccan, Spanish, and Portuguese-influenced cuisine.
When the InterContinental Chicago opened its doors in 1990, it was presented as a gift to the city of Chicago. Since then it has been the recipient of numerous awards for both its architecture and design. It has been the scene for important events, and the hotel's guests have included international dignitaries, politicians, and Hollywood celebrities. We are very proud of our hotel, both for its beautiful décor and the service we provide to match it. InterContinental Chicago stands proudly among the other InterContinental restorations around the world, including the Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C., the Mark Hopkins InterContinental San Francisco, Le Grand InterContinental in Paris, and many more. InterContinental Hotels Group operates more than 150 hotels on six continents.
The InterContinental Chicago. We Know What it Takes. “
(NOTE: Surprisingly, nothing is mentioned above on the external reliefs.)
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Originally built for the exclusive use of the 3,500 members of the Medinah Club and their guests, the building was criticized for its wasteful extravagance and opened with only 32 percent occupancy. In 1932 the club went into receivership. Like the Tribune Tower next door this building was the product of a design competition, although in this case the winner Walter Ahlschlager was practically preordained. Ahlschlager's original design in 1925 called for a wider tower topped with an onion dome and a spire with an Islamic crescent. Below the dome the tower shaft culminated in a wide gable with corner turrets.
The building's design is an eclectic mix of exotic medieval and oriental styles with a very heavy Moorish influence. The lobby extends seven floors up in a series of exotic themed rooms connected by several small staircases. The second floor features the Hall of Lions, where two bas-relief lions flank a grand staircase with a small fountain. One of the lobby's most spectacular rooms is the Spanish Court on the 5th and 6th floors, which features a central fountain and colorfully stenciled gothic arcades at both sides.
At the 8th floor the facade is decorated by three large relief carvings in ancient Assyrian style representing Wisdom on the north (NOTE: should read “west”) wall, Consecration on the west (NOTE: should read north), and Contribution on the south. The figures in the three relief carvings on the facade depict the faces of club members at the time of the design.
The building's east wall (NOTE: now hidden by another building) is painted with a giant mural depicting humpback whales swimming. The building lost several feet in height many years ago with the loss of an ornamental canopy on the small turret north of the dome. Three Sumerian warriors are carved into the facade above the entrance at the 12th floor, in front of the first setback. One of the exotic ballrooms is the King Arthur Court, with heavy timbering, stained glass windows, and a frieze depicting stories of King Arthur and Parsifal. The Grand Ballroom is a 90x100-foot two-story elliptical space decorated with Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek ornament and surrounded by a mezzanine.
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"The hotel currently occupies two Multi-story buildings. The historic tower, or "South Tower," is a 471 foot, 42 story building which was completed in 1929 originally as the home of the Medinah Athletic Club. (The main tower, or "North Tower" is a 295 foot, 25 story addition, completed in 1961
The exotic gold dome, which is Moorish in influence, originated as part of a decorative docking port for dirigibles - a notion conceived before the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Years later, the building would lose several feet with the dismantling of an ornamental canopy on the small turret north of the dome. This chimney-like structure was originally intended to assist in the docking of these air ships, but it was never put into use. Inside the dome, a glass cupola and spiral iron staircase resembling the top of a lighthouse led down to the hotel’s upper elevator landing.
In 1944 the building began its life as a hotel, debuting as the Continental Hotel and Town Club, where Esther Williams would swim in the then-famous pool. Subsequently it would operate under both the Sheraton and Radisson hotel chains. In 1961 the Sheraton expanded, adding a second tower just north of the existing building and bringing the northern boundary of the hotel all the way to Grand Avenue. During this era, the hotel featured an outlet of the popular Polynesian themed Kon Tiki Ports restaurant chain. A facade of lava rock adorned the northern wall along Grand Avenue, where today only a small section remains visible, tucked at the end of the balcony of Zest’s outdoor café. When the Radisson’s contract ended in 1983, the hotel’s name was changed back once again to the Continental. It would remain open for only three more years before finally closing its doors in anticipation of major remodeling and restoration.
In 1988, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts purchased the property outright and completed the first phase of extensive renovations prior to its re-opening in 1990."