favorites culled from vast collection of chicago athletic association building image database

it was surprisingly challenging to put together a collection of images designed to provide the reader with a visual synopsis of all the work that transpired at the chicago athletic club association building over the past few years.

with over 10,000 images captured and tucked away on hard drives (many still in raw format), i feel it would take at least a year for me, the unrelenting perfectionist, to offer an in-depth photographic documentary that captures the essence of revitalizing a formerly abandoned and/or mostly forgotten henry ives cobb building into a historically sensitive boutique hotel that epitomizes adaptive reuse.

at the very least, i can provide (in this post) a visual retrospective that focuses primarily on the most important interior and exterior architectural characteristics that made this building worthwhile to painstakingly rehabilitate and/or recreate for the public to fully access and appreciate some of the very best chicago architecture from the late 19th century.

in the beginning...

above: one of the very first images taken when i first arrived to a largely vacant and unkempt building. the "great dining room" was just horrific looking! the combination of rancid carpet, gaudy brass-plated light fixtures and of course, a outdated false or drop ceiling made it difficult and a distraction to appreciate the original architectural elements the club wisely left alone.

years later, we spent the night in the hotel, shortly after it was completed...