Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Will the Hotel Roanoke project be finished by opening day Monday?
No.
Does it matter?
No.
Scaffolding in the conference center stairwell and door transoms still on the floor Wednesday certainly didn't keep special guests from swarming to the free food trough Doubletree Hotels is running to rehearse the service staff.
Besides, the scene changes by the hour at the $42 million hotel and conference center.
Curtains went up in the Regency Room on Tuesday between the time Roanoke Mayor David Bowers ate salmon Benedict for breakfast and returned for lunch. When he arrived for breakfast Wednesday - oatmeal followed by eggs Benedict - chandeliers had been hung in the entrance area.
And at lunch Wednesday, Bowers pointed to a potted plant in the dining area and noted, "That's new from this morning."
The hotel, owned by Virginia Tech, and The Conference Center of Roanoke, owned by the city, officially open Monday, when at least 185 finished rooms will be occupied. Construction crews have been burning night lights to get ready for the first guests - and for the 4,000 people who have tickets to tour the place Saturday.
William Gilmore of Cloverdale and Rodney Kesler and Dallas Ling of Floyd were under the lights Wednesday night hanging the metal ceiling on a walkway that connects the conference center with the pedestrian overpass to downtown.
"We're going to work until we finish," Kesler said. He guessed that might be midnight or later.
Inside the conference center Wednesday, Debby Mayberry of Lynchburg touched up the finish on wood banisters and observed that "it's always like this" getting a hotel open.
"This one is a little further behind than most, though," said Mel Akery, who was installing trim nearby. Akery and his co-workers are with a Richmond company brought in to help the woodworking contractor. They have pulled 10-hour days and worked weekends, he said.
"It may not be 100 percent when it opens, but it's opening," said Tony Skillbeck, project director for developer Faison & Associates of Charlotte, N.C.
"Did you ever think it would get done and look like this?" he said. "It's wonderful."
In 20 years in the business, Skillbeck said the hotel project is the "best value for the dollar" that he's seen.
"You can't imagine what we found in here," he said of the structural surprises that awaited crews remodeling the century-old hotel.
The company has averaged one hotel project every three years, and that's been "sufficient" experience, Skillbeck joked.
"This one might last for five years," he said.
by CNB