Sometimes history can play an important role in the direction of a ballroom renovation—and in this instance can  turn into a design advantage.

First built in 1920, Casa Marina Resort and Beach Club in Key West, Fla., a new addition to the Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria Collection, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The resort recently completed a $44 million renovation in January of 2008, which included the transformation of three different ballrooms—the 3,080-sq. ft. Flagler Ballroom (300 capacity), the 4,840-sq. ft. Keys Ballroom (500 capacity), and the 2,700-sq. ft. Grand Ballroom (250 capacity).

THE GOAL:Renovate three historic ballrooms at the Casa Marina Resort and Beach Club, carefully restoring the original design to recapture a marketing advantage.THE PLAN: Restore the millwork ceilings, reopen arches that had been covered up over the years, expose windows that had been covered with opaque applications, and restore the windows within the arches, to keep the historic glass intact. THE PAYOFF: The club has marked a 30% increase in wedding business as a result of the recent renovations, in addition to a 12% increase in group bookings for corporate events. Casa Marina Resort and Beach Club replaced old carpeting with reclaimed Dade County Pine hardwood flooring created from environmentally friendly, river-reconstituted Florida pine.

In previous years, the ballrooms were “renovated” in hodgepodge fashion, without regard for their history. But this time, the renovators were sensitive to the original design, particularly with the historic Flagler Ballroom (see photo, opposite). They took care to restore the millwork ceilings, reopen the arches that had been covered up over the years, expose the windows that had been covered with opaque applications, and restore the windows within the arches, to keep the historic glass intact (see photo below).

The carpeting was removed and replaced with reclaimed Dade County Pine hardwood flooring created from environmentally friendly, river-reconstituted Florida pine. The reconstruction of historic details in a tropical environment presented challenges with finishes, lighting, and window treatments.

But all of the care and painstaking attention to detail and historical accuracy has earned immediate paybacks for Casa Marina. “We’ve already seen a 30% increase in our wedding business as a result of our recent renovations,” says General Manager Kevin Speidel. “And while corporate groups overall have been affected by the economy, we’ve seen a 12% increase in group bookings.”