Marriott Courtyard to open this summer

The Marriott Courtyard hotel under construction in downtown Cape Girardeau is nearing completion, said Jeff Maurer, a developer behind the project.

A group of about 30 people toured the construction site at 400 Broadway on Thursday evening as part of Missouri Main Street Connection's "This Place Matters" road show, making stops across the state during Historic Preservation Month in May.

Maurer, who with his father Jim Maurer founded Mayson Capital Partners LLC, said a project like this wouldn't be possible without a coordinated, determined effort.

The H-H Building is named for Himmelberger-Harrison, a lumber company which, Maurer said, cleared timber from the swamps of Southeast Missouri in the early 20th Century.

It's one of two buildings being revamped into a Marriott hotel, set to open around the end of this summer.

The H-H Building is at the corner of Broadway and Fountain Street, and on the east, faces the Marquette Tower -- another renovation project driven by Mayson Capital Partners, Maurer said.

Maurer said the five-story H-H Building by itself wasn't large enough to be a hotel, and the building behind it, the two-story Marquette Center at 221 N. Fountain St., needed to be purchased in order to make the deal with Marriott possible. The two were joined by a freestanding tower built between them, excavated 40 feet down so footings and a foundation could be built under existing foundations for both buildings.

It took a lot of coordination, Maurer said.

To build to both historic preservation standards and Marriott's requirements was a balance, Maurer said.

For example, the ceilings in several rooms are about 15 feet high, and are the original concrete, per some of those regulations, Maurer said.

And the original plaster crown molding in the lobby has been fully restored.

The lobby will have an ornate, old-world feel, Maurer said, and as guests move from the front of the building to the back, the atmosphere will transition to a more industrial look.

The hotel will have 91 guest rooms and a conference room, Maurer added.

Keith Winge with Missouri Main Street said he was thrilled to see this project coming to life.

"It's an amazing project," he said. "This experience is what millennials want, and hotel companies are listening to that."

Other celebrations of Historic Preservation Month include a tour of Ivers Square at 5:30 p.m. Friday, ahead of Tunes at Twilight, at the Common Pleas Courthouse gazebo on Lorimier Street in Cape Girardeau.

And the road show makes another stop in Jackson Tuesday with a presentation on preservation efforts to restore the World War I Doughboy Memorial on the courthouse lawn. That program will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the American Legion Hall at 319 N. High St. in Jackson.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

400 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

221 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.