(Above) Riverside Room, one of three new event spaces at Trump International Hotel & Tower. Click on images to view larger versions.

20-May-15 – Riverfront retail space at Trump International Hotel & Tower that sat idle for seven years will go to work as event space. Trump Tower announced on Tuesday a “soft opening” of three event spaces on the south side of the 92-story building that will collectively offer about 6,600 square feet for corporate and social functions.

A grand opening is scheduled for June 10. According to Robert Prohaska, director of sales and marketing at Trump Tower, events in the new spaces have been booked since March.

The largest of these spaces is the Bridgeview Room above the building’s main entrance on Wabash Avenue. 2,800 square feet of space will accommodate 204 people attending a plated dinner or 250 at a reception. The 2,000 square foot Riverside Gallery, when not in use, will serve as an extension of the hotel lobby.

A third space, Riverside Room, opening directly onto a walkway along the Chicago River, is described by Trump Tower as “evoking the art deco glamour of the 1930s.” The space features cylindrical Swarovski crystal fixtures.

The build-out was designed by Valerio Dewalt Train Associates, Inc., which has an office in Chicago and was the same firm that designed the hotel’s restaurant, Sixteen.

“These additions will only augment our ability to celebrate more memorable gatherings with our guests,” said Colm O’Callaghan, regional vice president of Trump International Hotels. The spaces, he says, will provide visitors with “an incomparable Chicago experience.”

(Above) O’Callaghan (left) with Ivanka Trump, the 33-year-old daughter of real estate mogul Donald Trump, as she tours the Bridgeview Room on May 12. The event space has three elaborate chandeliers like the one at left. Ivanka is executive vice president of development and acquisitions for The Trump Organization. Donald Trump Jr. was at Trump Tower on February 5 to inspect the spaces and confirm final details. Images obtained from Trump Tower.

Donald Trump will be in Chicago on June 29 to speak to members of the City Club of Chicago, which meets regularly at Maggiano’s Banquets in River North.

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