Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 13, 1993 TAG: 9305130060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS LENGTH: Medium
Lately, though, greenbacks have been scarce. The 227-year-old resort, whose lifeblood gurgles from four natural mineral water springs on the property, needs to freshen its finances. Part of the bathwater, it hopes, will come from the spigot of high-visibility sporting events.
Heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe, preparing to fight May 22, is dripping sweat almost daily in his overheated gym in the hotel's Casino Room. The Tour Du Pont cycling course is running through The Homestead today for the third straight year. The resort is host to a sporting clays shooting championship and the Bath County Horse Show, both of which draw national competition. The U.S. Women's Amateur Open Golf Tournament arrives next summer.
Don't expect a major PGA tournament, but The Homestead has an appetite for still bigger things. Director of events Mary Sanders, hired in February, says the 521-room resort will go after "any event we truly feel we can accommodate."
The resort is trying to finance a $30 million-to-$50 million renovation by luring investors and/or development partners. Making the hotel more attractive - and making some money, too - includes attracting sporting events such as Bowe's training camp.
How vital is success? In part because of an industry-wide slump, Dan Ingalls, president of The Homestead, said last June that the hotel had lost money the previous three years. Dennis Mills, executive vice president and managing director of the hotel, won't say how much.
"It was substantial," Mills said. "The bottom line [financially]: We're still struggling. That's the reality."
The outlook, Mills said, is blooming.
"We believe, with our marketing plan, we are on the road to recovery," said Mills, who said the resort's financial year starts in April. "We've had a very good April, and May looks very good. The first half of the year looks very good."
Mills said having Bowe on the grounds has invigorated the resort's staff and may help business - the same as with any other event it lures.
"[Their event] may take two to four hours of their time," Mills said of participants. "They're going to be here for four days. What are they going to do the rest of the time?"
Spend money, probably, at the resort's restaurants, shops and other activities. And, if pampered enough by the spas and other recreational facilities, they will come back.
Asked if the hotel was seeking investors to bankroll big sporting events such as Bowe's camp or if it wants to land more events to make the hotel a glossy option for investors, Mills made no distinction.
"We need both," he said. "We need exposure and need events. We also need capital. One goes with the other."
The Homestead's sports facilities, Mills said, are vital to its interest in being a host for sporting events. The sporting clays range cut out of a mountainside and the Lower Cascades golf course, a signature of noted course designer Robert Trent Jones, are two of the resort's treasures.
Part of the renovation, however, will include improving facilities. For example, Mills said, The Homestead wants to expand its ski run to the top of Warm Springs Mountain to have an elevation drop of 1,400 to 1,500 feet in 1[ miles - the better to appeal to skiing events.
"It'll be serious skiing," Mills said.
Added Sanders: "We're willing to do what we have to do."
by CNB