Pere Marquette, Last Days

A few years back on Jan 10th 2012 I was lucky enough to find myself inside the Pere Marquette if only for a short few hours. It was weeks if not days before it was to go under a large restoration and remodel project. As far as I know these were some of the last images taken of it pre construction. The Hotel Père Marquette is a 14-story hotel in downtown Peoria, Illinois. It was built in 1926 for $2.5 million and features 288 guest rooms. The hotel is named for Father Jacques Marquette, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A lot of big names and famous people have visited there including a good handful of presidents.