I just read the article in the Journal Review that the city was committing to $1.5 million to a new hotel in downtown Crawfordsville.
I understand the idea of incentivizing the refurbishing of a historic building that has become a blight on our city. And I understand that with the city sitting on $30 million in cash reserves and that $1.5 million is not going to be a detriment to the city. What I have an issue with is the lack of compassion for an already suffering hospitality industry reeling from the effects of this pandemic.
To use our tax money to complete a building project that would be in direct competition with our existing businesses, that continue to struggle, but still pay taxes.
Has a feasibility study been done to see if this community can support another hotel? That is something that our industry always has completed before any decisions to add hotel rooms to and area.
We have requested time and time again for the city to acknowledge the north end businesses and have repeatedly asked for the Visitors Bureau support. We feel like we have continually been overlooked for quite some time.
Could you please clarify the city’s goals and reasoning for this move so that way the hotel owners can begin to understand? We sure would have appreciated a conversation about this before reading it in the paper.
Nicole Copeland
General Manager Hampton Inn & Suites Crawfordsville
