Hotel Orrington
Polishing a Georgian Gem in Evanston
by Craig Barner

It was a different era when the Orrington Hotel was the fashionable haunt in north suburban Evanston.

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The downtown facility originally opened in 1923, and people danced on the roof to the sounds of band music for decades, said Dan Nowak, project superintendent with Valenti Builders Inc., a contractor based in Northfield, Ill.

Indeed, 8 in. of concrete on the roof held a terrace and banquet hall for parties and other events.

In the 1950s, the hotel with classic Georgian styling was the place to celebrate weddings. A honeymoon suite that was "the size of a house" was on an end of the roof, and an equally glamorous penthouse built in the center had staterooms with fireplaces and fine millwork.

"In its heyday, the hotel was the place to go," Nowak said.

Slowly the Orrington's halcyon days faded, and the hotel that had once been a jewel on Chicago's North Shore gradually lost its luster, said Greg DeStefano, senior vice president in Chicago with South Norwalk, Conn.-based Greenfield Partners LLC, a developer that bought the venerable property for an undisclosed amount.

"We saw an opportunity in the market for a four-star hotel, so we embarked on the renovation plans," he added.

Valenti was named the general contractor on the $34 million project, and the facility most recently known as the Omni Orrington Hotel closed in January 2004 and the interior furnishings were sold.

The project was expected to be finished in January and reopen as the Hotel Orrington. The hotel represents Greenfield's first in the Chicago area.

Attracting Business

The hotel is being repositioned in part to attract business conferences and professionals.

As a result, a major addition is a 19,000-sq.-ft. conference center that has replaced the honeymoon suite and 12,000-sq.-ft. penthouse, Nowak said.

Planning was key because the old structures were to be demolished on a roof eight stories high. And safety was an issue because debris had to be kept from Orrington Avenue on the east and a 20-ft.-wide alley on the west.

The alley was shut, and nets were put up on the roof edge to catch debris.

Between 60 and 70 workers demolished the roof structures, including the 8-in. concrete terrace, mostly by hand with saws and other implements.

Wheelbarrows ferried the debris to the roof's north end, where a hoist was located to lower the material, said Robert Weber, Valenti project executive.

About 10,000 cu. yds. of waste were removed, though the figure includes the debris from the roof and interior also.

A complicating factor arose that required a structural survey to be performed.

The actual location of the eighth-floor columns conflicted a number of times with the locations that were indicated on old drawings, Nowak said. And it was important to pinpoint their spot so that the columns for the new ninth floor could be raised and properly seated.

Eighth-floor walls were knocked down, and the discoveries of different column locations piled up.

"After about five times [of different locations], Bob Weber said to open every wall, even though it's going to create some damage, and find every column," Nowak said.

The columns' locations were precisely pinned down, and steel columns were erected for the new ninth floor, Weber said.

A 200-ton crane was along Orrington Avenue for six weeks so that steel members, studs, wall plaster and other materials could be lifted. Cribbing supported the crane to ensure its weight was evenly distributed.

The conference center is expected to lure business for the reborn hotel in part because Northwestern University and other draws are nearby, Greenfield's DeStefano said.

"It's a good-size conference center and 1.5 times the size of the Doubletree [Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Chicago - North Shore in Skokie], our main competitor," he added.

Other Changes Back

The Orrington has other new elements.

The Globe Cafe and Bar is a new restaurant on the building's northeast corner. The lease that McDonald's Corp. held for an outlet on the building's south end was purchased, and it, too, will hold a restaurant, the yet-to-open Indigo Lounge.

The lobby size was doubled to 3,000 sq. ft., and a business center was added on the second level.

Other amenities include a lobby lounge with bar and nightly entertainment, second-floor ballroom and fitness center.

The 200,000-sq.-ft. hotel has 269 rooms on floors three through eight, a reduction from the 300 rooms the facility previously held, because some rooms were converted to suites and others widened to accommodate handicapped guests.

The design strategy was to preserve the hotel's classic look but accent it with contemporary style, said Eric Ullmann, vice president of design for Dallas-based Duncan & Miller Design, the interior architect.

Plaster moldings were preserved in most guest rooms, and the clean-lined furniture has dark walnut finish. "Chicago is a rich, deep, urban city where you find dark wood that people are sensitive to," Ullmann added.

Contemporary elements were used selectively to offer flair, such as a glass mosaic on a column near the check-in desk.

Circulation, MEP Improved

The hotel also has a new shuttle elevator in the building center and a stairwell on the south end to improve circulation and code compliance.

In the past, circulation could become confusing because guests staying at the hotel and those attending social functions occasionally ran into each other, DeStefano said.

And, the rickety exterior fire escape on the south façade framed in tube steel did not meet existing building codes and was removed.

"I climbed it once all the way up to the ninth floor and I said that's the dumbest thing I ever did," Nowak said.

The new stairwell was created surgically by saw-cutting the existing floor.

Platforms caught the material, which was shoveled into wheelbarrows and taken to the hoist. Similarly, the winding stairwell in the center was demolished and replaced with rails and platforms.

The mechanical, electrical and plumbing system is about "95 percent new," Nowak added. This includes plumbing, room HVAC units and generator.
Other than for the conference center, the risers to supply services were retained.