Architecture
At a news conference on June 26, 2007, it was officially announced the renovation by Ann Arbor Architectural firm Hobbs + Black Associates Inc. would commence. It reopened under the name "Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby/Detroit Downtown" on December 15, 2008 with 203 guest suites and the upper floors consisting of 56 apartments. The hotel features a 21,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) conference center with two ballrooms and 17 Breakout rooms.
Preliminary preparation for renovation work began in June 2006. It consisted of structural evaluations, asbestos clean-up and environmental tests. Now complete, the hotel is the DoubleTree Guest Suites - Fort Shelby with 204 suites, an IACC-approved conference center, 66 apartments on the upper half of the building, a full-service restaurant and lounge, fitness center and concierge. The main ballroom was restored to its original state. The parapet that surrounds the main roof deck rises 3'-6" above the roof. Financing for renovation closed in early May 2007, construction work on the hotel started later that month.
The original 1916 building was designed by Schmidt, Garden & Martin and the 1927 addition by Albert Kahn. The building was constructed in two phases completed in 1916 and 1927 . It stands at 22 stories in height, with one basement floor, for a total of 23. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style. It incorporates brick and limestone as its main materials.
Read more about this topic: Fort Shelby Hotel
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