For nearly a decade, Naper Settlement has been busy creating partnerships with Marquette Properties, the Water Street District, and the newly opened Hotel Indigo Naperville Riverwalk, located at 120 Water Street, to help bring a historic element to the boutique hotel. Naper Settlement’s curatorial team met with the hotel’s designers from The Gettys Group, an award-winning global hospitality design firm in Chicago, to lend historical expertise and guidance to bring Naperville’s history into the hotel’s design.
“We were so excited to work with Hotel Indigo,” said Naper Settlement’s Chief Curator, Louise Howard. “It was great creating a partnership with them to help bring Naperville’s local history and culture into the hotel spaces through murals and other design elements.”
Hotel Indigo is known for reflecting the community they are located, which is why they chose to partner with Naper Settlement. The museum’s curatorial team helped Hotel Indigo incorporate Naperville’s story by assisting developers and project designers with ideas and images that reflect the community’s culture, character and history. The curatorial staff provided images and information to help with the artistic inspiration for the mosaics along the river. Within the hotel, the natural stacked stone in the back lit of the reception desk reflects the limestone used in several historic Naperville structures. The broad plank flooring in the pedestrian bridge that takes guests across Water Street to Elements, the hotel’s banquet and events space, suggests the Plank Road that carried travelers from Naperville to Chicago.
“We are so excited for Hotel Indigo to be a part of downtown Naperville,” said Naper Settlement’s CEO and President, Macarena Tamayo-Calabrese. “Not only will the hotel showcase Naperville’s amazing history, but we look forward to the economic achievements the hotel will help bring to the city’s historic downtown area, businesses and museum.”
Naper Settlement also helped the hotel brainstorm design ideas, like replicating details from furniture pieces made locally at the Kroehler Manufacturing Company, located on 5th Avenue. The curatorial team also assisted with the information plaques placed in the banquet facility and the historically inspired murals in the guest’s rooms. For more information on Hotel Indigo Naperville, visit their website.
“Hotel Indigo is thrilled about the partnership that has been developed with Naper Settlement,” said Doug Kelly, Director of Sales and Marketing at Hotel Indigo. “The close proximity to Naper Settlement could not be more convenient for our guests. Plus, with all the events and weddings held at the museum it’s only natural that we accommodate all Naperville’s visitors at Hotel Indigo. We’re happy to be neighbors!”
