CLEVELAND, Ohio - Stop by the new Drury Plaza Hotel Cleveland for an overnight education in historic preservation.

The hotel opens today in the former Cleveland Board of Education building after a stunning three-year, $52-million renovation.

Built in 1931, the property occupies a high-profile space downtown, just east of the new Cleveland Convention Center and north of Public Square.

It's the latest in a string of highly-anticipated hotel openings in the city this year, which started in March with the debut of the Kimpton Schofield Hotel and continues in June with the opening of the Hilton Cleveland Downtown.

Progress at the Drury Plaza, the region's first, has attracted a large following primarily because of the building's history.

"In all of my career, I have never had the amount of interest that we've experienced here," said Krisandra Lippert, development project manager for Drury Southwest.

Designed by prominent architecture firm Walker and Weeks, the building was part of the city's original Group Plan, the grand early 20th-century downtown development that included the Mall, Cleveland City Hall, Public Auditorium and other public buildings.

Occupied by the school board continuously since 1931, the building suffered through a period of neglect in recent years. In 2013, the Cleveland schools sold the property at auction to the St. Louis-based Drury chain.

Three years later, thanks in part to $13 million in federal and state historic tax credits, the building is emerging from a remarkable transformation.

General manager Scott Schmelzer said interest in the project has been extraordinary.

"I've done more tours than a museum tour guide since I got here in December," said Schmelzer. "And everyone has the same reaction - Wow."

Among the reasons why:

* The marble-lined, two-story lobby, off the hotel's back entrance. Check out the two Depression-era murals on the walls - "The Progress of Education" and "The Branches of Education" - plus massive arched windows and elegant bronze chandeliers.

* The two-story auditorium, outfitted now as a meeting room, also featuring historic wall murals, plus intricate stenciling on the ceiling - all restored.

* The former school board room, now a meeting room, with marble columns and intricate dentil molding; and the former library, now an executive suite, lined with oak bookshelves and hand-painted linen wallpaper.

Historic details are around every corner - school display cases, original light fixtures, wall clocks, mail chutes and more.

Modern amenities are offered here, too, including contemporary decor, complimentary wi-fi, a fitness center and small swimming pool in the basement. (Lippert calls it an accidental lap pool - structural columns and footings forced the pool into a longer, narrower shape than originally planned.)

The hotel, at 1380 East 6th St., isn't quite finished, though it will welcome its first guests at 4 p.m. today.

Landscaping work, for example, is just getting started, the entrance sign hasn't been installed, and the public restaurant, the Teachers Lounge, won't be ready for another week or two.

About 140 of the 189 rooms are ready for guests, according to Lippert. Room rates star at about $170.

On Friday morning, crews were finishing up last-minute details - washing windows, filling vending machines, polishing doors.

Lippert credited the hard work of the region's building trades for the property's transformation.

"This is the most skilled labor force I've ever seen," she said. "Everybody wanted to be here. Had it not been for them, we would not be open yet."