October 2016
Chicago Motor Club Wins Preservation Excellence Award
CHICAGO, IL - The Chicago Motor Club building was honored with a Chicago Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
The Chicago Motor Club is widely regarded as one of Chicago’s finest Art Deco skyscrapers with its elaborate ornamental details and terra cotta and limestone facade. The building served as the headquarters for the Chicago Motor Club for nearly 60 years. Its previous tenants moved out in 2004, and the building sat vacant until it was purchased in 2011 with plans to convert it into a new, 143-room Hampton Inn hotel.
Walsh Construction served as the general contractor to revive the Chicago Motor Club to its original grandeur. The extensive rehabilitation effort included masonry repairs and cleaning of the facades, restoration of the dramatic main lobby, uncovering and repair of the original patterned terrazzo flooring, and reinstallation of original light fixtures. A feature of the lobby is a 29-foot tall by 50-foot wide mural of a map of the United States painted by John Warner Norton depicting 19 transcontinental auto routes in the 1920s.
The recognition acknowledges the critical role property owners, businesses, and citizens play in the preservation of the city’s historic and cultural heritage.
The Chicago Motor Club building was designated a Chicago Landmark in May 2012.