Mies to Stop Flowing at IBM lobby?

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The architecture of Mies van der Rohe is all about openness and sweep, but try to tell that to the current owners of his classic IBM Building, now known by its address, 330 North Wabash.

The preliminary report from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. issued just before the property became officially designated, referenced "first-floor lobby interior" as one of the structure's historical and architectural features meriting protection.  Apparently something got lost in the translation.  On Monday, I took these pictures of metal framing and drywall going up to partition off the north end of the lobby, where doors and windows have been covered in brown paper to avoid prying eyes.  The Landmarks Commission has been reviewing and approving multiple noncontroversial renovations to 330, mostly on the upper tenant-occupied floors, but also including the recently completed accessible ramp to the plaza off of State and a future additional canopy for the hotel finally going into the space.  I was unable to find any authorization of this construction in the most recent permit review reports.

In December of 2010, Hong-Kong based Great Eagle Holdings announced that they had acquired floors 2 through 13 of 330 N. Wabash for a new 216 room Langham Hotel.  The office portion of the structure is also doing well, on track to being 84% leased after recently landing some major new tenants, including the American Medical Association, in a deal - according to Crain's Chicago Business - that includes naming rights to the building.

Please, someone tell me these new lobby walls are only temporary protection, or that the drywall will be replaced with glass, but I fear they look a little too solid to be anything less than permanent.  Give it a decade or two and another owner will rediscover the value of putting it all back to Mies's original vision.