21c Museum Hotels is planning to renovate and restore the former Metropole Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. Following federal standards for historic rehabilitation, the hotel group is working with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation on the restoration, scheduled to begin next fall. The total expected cost for the project is $45 million. When it’s complete, the hotel will offer 160 rooms, an 8,000-square-foot contemporary art museum open to the public free of charge, and a Proof restaurant and bar serving contemporary cuisine made with locally grown ingredients.

Deborah Berke & Partners Architects, which designed the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, has signed on for the Cincinnati project. Executive architect is Alan Weiskopf of Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel, a firm noted for its significant experience in historic preservation projects.