An enthusiastic crowd gathered on Aug. 17 for the groundbreaking for a long-awaited project – a new $11.5 million hotel that is scheduled to be open in November of 2017.
“We are very delighted (with) SPAN to take up this project to build a Hampton Inn by Hilton,” said Harpreet Chaggar, president of Charity Developments Board, a wholly-owned foundation of St. Paul Abilities Network.
He added his hopes that the 14-month development project would bring jobs to town, but also, upon its completion, offer more training for SPAN clients, in things such as hotel management.
“This is well needed, for sure,” said Mayor Glenn Andersen, with Andersen and SPAN executive director Tim Bear both noting that a new hotel would allow the community to more easily host things such as large-scale sports tournaments.
The hotel is unique among Hampton Inn by Hilton franchises, said Philip Lee, SPAN’s director of business development, who said when he first called the hotel group, it took them a while to figure out how this would work, as it was the first time ever that a franchise was given to a non-profit agency.
“It took a while to convince them,” Lee said, adding that eventually, after Hampton Inn by Hilton has ascertained the project could be done, they were “equally excited” as SPAN to see the new model at work.
“It is a social enterprise, generating funds for (SPAN)” said Chaggar, with Bear adding that the project “moves us toward self-sustainability” and away from having to rely on unpredictable government funding.
The 54,597 sq. ft. building will include 78 hotel units and three double suites/wedding suites, a salt water pool and water slide, and 3,744 sq. ft. of meeting space that could accommodate up to 250 guests for an event such as a wedding, said Lee.
“It will be the largest hotel meeting facility in the Lakeland,” he said, noting that many other hotels don’t have this kind of meeting space because it is hard to offer the catering and other services for large events such as weddings. For SPAN, this didn’t pose an issue, as it was able to offer its own catering service through DAC, he said.
Site supervisor Adam Atwell noted that much of the supplies such as lumber are being contracted locally, while locals will also be able to bid on other parts of the project, such as painting.
“We’re proud to be working here and working with the town as much as possible,” said Atwell, just before he and the other guests and dignitaries, including board members, the mayor, MLA David Hanson, and Chamber of Commerce representatives watched as a shovel dug into the soil to kick-start the next 14 months of this project.
