Even though it hasn’t been built, the inside of the hotel that will adjoin Tinley Park’s future convention center hosted a tour by plan commissioners–thanks to the wonders of virtual reality.
At a meeting earlier this week, members of the commission were treated to a three-dimensional tour, projected on a large-screen television, of the 6-story Holiday Inn prototype that will be connected to the convention center via walkway.
The project is expected to open in summer 2000 near the Harlem Avenue interchange at Interstate Highway 80. Commissioners are expected to vote on the site plan March 18.
Carl Vandenberg, the former village trustee who is Tinley’s part-time coordinator for the two projects, said the hotel will be the third such in the country for Holiday Inn that includes luxury suites. The other two are in Georgia and Virginia.
Holiday Inn considers such a design its “prototype for the new millennium,” Vandenberg said.
“It’s unique-looking,” he said. “It’s modern and unique. They’re (Holiday Inn) trying to re-establish their identity. It incorporates a strong commitment to high-tech electronics.”
Sensors will turn lights on and off automatically when guests enter and leave their rooms, which will result in energy savings and provide more convenience, he said.
There also will be an indoor lap pool with a sauna and whirlpool, according to Vandenberg.
Plans call for the hotel to have 192 regular rooms, five whirlpool rooms and five suites, he said, with rates yet to be determined.
The convention center will be complemented by a lake behind it and feature movable walls in its 35,000 square feet of open space, allowing flexibility for meetings, Vandenberg said.
Total size of the facility is 60,000 square feet, expandable to 100,000. Designers also hope to enlarge plans for the center’s kitchen, he added.
One question commissioners had concerned safety features of the hotel windows, which guests will be able to open, he said.
“(Planners) wanted to try to make it feel residential, so instead of those industrial-type steel windows, it will have wood double-hung windows,” he said, adding that the safety issue will be addressed.
