SALEM — Three stories of hotel rooms and apartments at the Hampton Inn project downtown overlook a massive, squishy gray membranous material protecting the rooftop of the enclosed parking garage at the site.
It may offer an unusual sight to viewers now, but soon, guests booking rooms at the hotel or moving into the 56 apartments this fall will instead see a field of water-hungry and heat-deflecting plants.
Throughout this week and next, crews at the ongoing construction project will be installing what is expected to become the city’s largest “green roof” atop the three-story garage that sits within the U-shaped Hampton Inn building.