St. Paul will be welcoming the new Hampton Inn by Hilton in late 2016 if all goes as planned, according to Tim Bear, executive director for the St. Paul Abilities Network (SPAN).
“St. Paul has needed a new fresh hotel concept for years and years,” said Bear, adding the project is being led by Charity Developments, a for-profit limited company that fundraises for SPAN. “It’s a natural progression from where we’re at since we do catering and hospitality as an organization already.”
The 81-room full service hotel will break ground in the Centennial Plaza area, near the Wellness Centre and Value Drug Mart, in the fall of this year, said Bear.
“We are very excited to include significant meeting space for weddings and conferences,” he added.
Bear said Charity Developments has submitted the development application, and now it is waiting to see drawings of the proposed hotel.
“SPAN has been involved in social enterprise for decades,” he said, explaining, “Our purpose is to insulate ourselves from the see-saw of government revenue and funding. We’re trying to get off the rollercoaster and find a way to generate some stable funding to provide support to people with special needs in the region.”
The proposal for a hotel in town was welcomed by St. Paul Mayor Glenn Andersen, who said the scarcity of hotel accommodations “has deterred people from organizing major events in the past.”
Knowing that the hotel project is in the works, town council was spurred on to apply to serve as a host for the 2018 Alberta Summer and/or Winter Games which he believed would now be easier to accommodate.
“We’re just happy that someone’s investing in the community.”
Bear said that the Bank of Canada and the Edmonton Community Foundation are partnering on the project, and that he is keen to see partnerships continue with community groups once the site is up and running.
Bear expressed his excitement over the project and its ability to serve two needs, by providing the town a hotel and by generating funds that will stay in the community, to help people with things such as housing and employment.
“This is a really great way of going about things,” he said.
