The Grand Hyatt New York has completed a $12 million renovation of its famed Empire Ballroom, it announced last week.Originally built in 1917, the ballroom — previously known as the Commodore Ballroom — is where President John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 1960, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech in 1956 and where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton celebrated her victory in the New York Senate race in 2000.Totaling 18,000 square feet — for as many as 1,500 guests — the space has been updated with a new interior that's intended to "respect and enhance" the historic nature of the venue. Its centerpiece is a new "champagne cloud" chandelier featuring 7,000 individual pieces of hand-blown art glass.The ballroom also has been updated with new audio/visual equipment, including permanent drop-down projection screens and an advanced LED lighting control system.