Chicago Athletic Association - Chicago, IL
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libbykc
N 41° 52.911 W 087° 37.491
16T E 448155 N 4636847
This hotel in the historic Chicago Athletic Association building has won multiple awards for historic preservation.
Waymark Code: WM11RPZ
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 12/11/2019
Views: 3
This Venetian Gothic building was built to house an elite private club. After the club closed in 2007, the building was preserved and reopened as a hotel.
From Chicago Architecture Center:
The Chicago Athletic Association opened in 1893 amid the boom surrounding the World’s Columbian Exposition. It offered an escape from the city, with all the comforts of a well-appointed home—and excellent athletic facilities for its members to enjoy. Private clubs had long been an important institution among the well-heeled of the East Coast, many of whom found themselves spending increasing amounts of time in the fast-growing capital of the Prairie.
The CAA is an integral part of the historic Michigan Avenue streetwall, yet its details set it apart. Patterned after the palace of the Doge in Venice, its most notable feature is a course of distinctive, criss-crossing arched windows. Behind the elaborate facade are two lavish lobby levels, the second offering cozy seating clustered around several fireplaces.
The fate of the building was murky when the Chicago Athletic Association closed in 2007. After a few perilous years, a meticulous restoration began, led by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects. Historic interiors were painstakingly brought back to life, and interior architects Roman + Williams brought together of-the-moment interior design with references to (and even reuses of) sporting elements from the building’s past. New high-speed elevators are lined with old squash court flooring, and every guest room has a bench in the shape of a pommel horse.
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From Landmarks Illinois:
Development firm AJ Capital Partners meticulously renovated the Venetian Gothic Chicago Athletic Association building designed by Henry Ives Cobb in 1893. The project included restoring the building’s ornamental plaster and Carrera marble flooring, constructing a breathtaking rooftop deck, and updating the building’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing and A/V systems. Ultimately, the project team transformed the iconic building, which formerly housed a private athletic club for Chicago’s elites, into a 241-room boutique hotel with a stylish restaurant, bar, game room, and rooftop lounge.
Prior to being purchased and renovated by AJ Capital, the Athletic Association building had twice appeared on Landmarks Illinois’s “Most Endangered Historic Places” list. This project not only restored a beautiful, iconic building on Chicago’s most traveled street but also opened the spectacular space to the public for the first time.
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