Debbie Wachter Morris
Contributed photo
NEW CASTLE —
The Hampton Inn in Union Township is open for business.
A group of local officials and business leaders gathered for a reception at the new hotel on State Street at noon today to welcome the enterprise to Lawrence County.
The hotel actually opened last week, but the grand opening is today, explained Ramesh Patel, president of Castle Hospitality, which will manage the facility.
The three-story inn has 74 guest rooms, a breakfast bar, a swimming pool and hot tub, an exercise room and a meeting room.
The business will employ 12 to 16 part-time workers, depending upon how busy it is, Patel said.
It will provide wage and property taxes to the community.
J.R. Hardester, the county assessor, said the building has not yet been assessed for its value, but that will be done this week. The new amount will be recorded on the tax rolls beginning Aug. 1, he said, as newly assessed properties are recorded for the next month.
Construction of the hotel started in January 2009.
Castle Hospitality is a subsidiary of Sunrise Hospitality Inc. of Wauseon, Ohio. The company is owned by Patel’s brother and other family members, and operates about 20 hotels in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. This is the first one the group has built in Pennsylvania.
The Hampton Inn is one of two hotels planned for Union Township, but details for the second one are uncertain now.
More than a year ago, plans were announced for an 80-room Microtel Inn and Suites to be built at the corner of West State Street and South Scotland Lane.
However, it has been about a year since township officials have had any word on its progress, Linda Farris, township zoning officer, said yesterday.
“The last we heard it was on hold. That was a good year ago.”
That building was being planned by developer Edward Trainer Jr. of New Castle Lodging II of Bethel, Pa. Efforts to reach him yesterday were unsuccessful.
The Hampton Inn sits on the former Sotus Candies property, which is owned by McClure Realty and Development.
Dick McClure, a partner, is a former county resident whose office is in St. Petersburg, Fla. The development company also owns Union Plaza, site of Tractor Supply Co., Sears and an empty building, formerly housing Ames.
McClure said yesterday he is glad to see the hotel open for business.
“We have a couple of other things we’re working on out there,” he said, regarding business development, “but in this economy, nothing is done until it’s done.”
He would not comment on what those project are until they materialize.
