September 7, 2009 – Residents above the laundry room on the 20th floor of the west tower can probably confirm that construction crews started early and worked weekends to finish a long-anticipated renovation at Marina City. Finally, early on Friday afternoon, after ten weeks, four days, and a last-minute delay, the new laundry room opened.

Writing on his blog, Marina Watch Dog Sound Off, west tower resident Mark Ulaszek said the new laundry room “looks pretty darn good so far. But I can see where some might not appreciate the ‘coziness’ of the new configuration.”

The old laundry facility was split into two rooms, with about one-third of the space being used for a fitness room that is still being constructed. It is part of a $435,000 plan announced last November to build a fitness room in one residential tower and a new meeting room for the condo association in the other tower.

The plan was unanimously approved on January 15 by Marina Towers Condominium Association. On June 16, a construction permit for the alterations was issued by the City of Chicago Department of Buildings.

While their laundry room was closed, residents of the west tower had to walk over to the east tower to do laundry.

Laundry room photos, before and after renovation

Before the renovation, the laundry room in the west tower was virtually identical to the laundry room in the east tower. This allows us to show approximately what the room looked like before renovation. Click on an image to view a larger version.

(Above left) Laundry room on 20th floor of west residential tower, following a ten-week renovation by Milan Construction Company of Chicago, the project’s general contractor. (Above right) Before renovation, the room looked very similar to the laundry room in the east tower.

(Above left) Entry to the renovated laundry room, from the circular corridor. (Above right) How this area looked previously.