The building?s location was the prime factor in instituting a fast-track schedule for the restoration, as the owners wanted the building complete and open to the public prior to opening day of the 2001 baseball season. But before the hotel could open its doors, its interior and exterior stonework had to undergo an extensive restoration effort.
Built in 1906 during the heyday of the steel industry, the historic Fulton Building was constructed by Henry Phipps, a partner of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, and was named after engineer Robert Fulton, who built the steamboat New Orleans in Pittsburgh in 1811. The building was originally designed as a hotel by architect Grosvenor Atterbury, but was occupied as office space instead, explained Jim Johnson, AIA, principal of JG Johnson Architects in Denver, the architectural firm for the restoration. Now after almost a century, the Fulton Building has been restored to take on its originally intended role, and it was reopened as the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. "Our intention was to protect and enhance the stone materials used in this building, especially the granite and marble," said Johnson.