Less than a month into its $1.5 million makeover project, the Eldridge Hotel is showing signs of its latent potential.

Work crews are busy tearing out fixtures, floor coverings and other portions of the 93-year-old building southwest of Seventh and Massachusetts streets — from gutting the hotel’s 48 suites to pulling carpets in the Crystal Ballroom.

Dion Hancock, of Joel Fritzel Construction, works to expose the terrazzo floor in the Crystal Ballroom at the Eldridge Hotel. He worked Wednesday on the floor.

Through the rubble and clouds of dust, Bobby Douglass can see signs of promise in the property he and fellow investors acquired for $2.92 million in a bankruptcy auction late last year.

Their goal: re-establish the landmark lodgings as a destination worthy of four-star status.

“It’s encouraging,” Douglass said Wednesday evening, overseeing demolition work from the vacant Jayhawker bar. “We’re recovering everything we can.”

The hotel closed Jan. 1, and signs taped on pillars and walls throughout the lobby remind workers that only 72 days remain until the anticipated April 1 reopening.

Homer Castaneda puts up Sheetrock in an Eldridge Hotel suite, one of 48 being renovated in the 93-year-old building.

Among the workers’ latest tasks: tearing up old carpets to reveal terrazzo floors. Plans call for the terrazzo diamonds to shimmer once again, just one indication of the new owners’ commitment to preserving the hotel’s historic flair.

The hotel’s owners are Douglass, a Chicago businessman and former Kansas University and professional football player; Mitchell and Susan Chaney, KU alumni from Brownsville, Texas; and a handful of local investors.