The Loop's Hard Rock Hotel Is Changing Its Name To Honor Jane Addams
By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 29, 2017 3:38PM
When we think of downtown hotels, the name "Jane Addams"—Chicago's pioneering activist, suffragist and "mother" of social work—doesn't exactly leap to mind. But she'll in fact be the honorary namesake of a Michigan Avenue "lifestyle" hotel next year, when the Hard Rock Hotel gets rebranded to St. Jane Chicago, according to the Tribune.
Don't expect a shrine to the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Hull House founder when the new name and concept emerges—under the property's new hotel management firm, Aparium Hotel Group—reportedly by late spring of next year. The other expected changes outlined in the Trib piece sound more like standard hotel-industry revamp moves: a coffee shop and restaurant replacing all those Hard Rock music-memorabilia relics; a slight reduction in rooms, plus room improvements.
The hotel aims to "fill the void between the most upscale hotels and the level below that, between a four-diamond and five-diamond property," Aparium Chief Operating Officer Kevin Robinson told the paper. In speaking with the Tribune, Carrie Meghie, who works with the company that owns the property, invoked the history of Hull House—the settlement co-founded in 1889 by Addams that welcome newly arrived immigrants, offered education outreach, an employment bureau and other services. "The Hull House was a gathering place for people of diverse backgrounds to gather, eat and debate, much like a hotel. It seems like a great nod to Jane Addams and her contributions to the city," Meghie told the Tribune.
Located inside the historic Carbide and Carbon building, the Hard Rock Hotel's last day in operation will be Nov. 30, according to the paper. You can read the Trib's full story—which also details some of the hotel owner's charitable works—here.
Jane Addams, 1915 / Wikipedia
This post has been updated.