After sitting vacant for more than 40 years, the King Edward Hotel is two weeks from its grand reopening. Originally opened during the Civil War, the hotel has been a fixture in Jackson, MS since it was rebuilt in 1923. The 12-story brick structure was closed in 1967 and after several failed attempts at a revival, the King Edward will open as a Hilton Garden Inn on Dec. 17.

Three years ago this month, Watkins Partners, former New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister and HRI Properties formed a partnership to redevelop and restore the hotel. The hotel, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, will feature 186 guestrooms and the top four floors will house 64 apartments.

Thomas Hamilton & Associates, an architecture and interior design firm with past experience with HRI and other historic restorations, handled the interior renovations of the King Edward. Marc Oliver, the lead architect, recently chatted about the project and the challenges that come with adaptive reuse.

When did you get involved with this project and what was the condition of the building?
We first got involved in 2007. It looked very nice from the outside, but inside was a ruin. There had been many attempts at a revitalization effort, but they always fell flat. I saw plans, but nothing ever got off the ground in those 40 years.

What’s different about historic restoration project like this?
These are always a challenge. You’re working with historical committees, the state office and the National Park Service because it is a historic tax credit project. The National Park Service handles the historic tax credits and there’s also a local state office, the SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) of Mississippi. They came in and said what was needed for the credits.

How much is left from the original 1923 building?
We pretty much gutted everything inside the hotel. The (lobby) floor is the original marble floor of 1923. We did not tear that out. The floor is original and there is the historic staircase (in the lobby) with some pickets that formed a decorative area above the stairs. We took that down, the cast iron, and restored it and put it back into place. Those are the two original pieces from the hotel.

What were some of those features you needed to keep or reproduce for the tax credits?
They said the columns in the lobby had to be reproduced. We didn’t have to restore them, but they wanted to see that the plaster columns had the same character and detail … We took rubber molds and then reproduced those columns … The guestrooms had to have wood trim around the windows. There were some old stone granite shower stalls in the building and we had to incorporate one of those pieces in one shower … just their nod to say this is a historic building. There was a lot of plaster cast arches over doors, which we didn’t save, but we made rubber molds and repeated them. We had to restore the (lobby) staircase.

What is your favorite feature?
Up on the second floor, there’s ballroom space with a vaulted ceiling. When I walked into that space, even when it was in ruin and terrifying looking, it was still an exciting space. I’m excited to see that ballroom restored, with that plaster ceiling that mimics the old one.

How much leeway do you get with brand standards and requirements?
It almost looks like a custom-designed Hilton because there’s so much history. Hilton Garden Inn has to give you quite a bit of leeway with adaptive reuse. In the King Edward lobby, the King Edward Grill (not the Great American Grill like at most HGI locations) is off to the left side in a segregated area. HGI has an integrated bar area and we have a stand-alone bar because of the layout, for example.