Groundbreaking planned for long-awaited hotel

Friday, September 6, 2013
Tammy Helm/Tribune photo Bill Michaud, managing member of FS Hospitality Group LLC, announces that a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sleep Inn hotel will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday. The hotel will be located between Main and Scott streets in Fort Scott.

After two years, pieces of the puzzle that are bringing a new hotel to Fort Scott have fallen into place.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Sleep Inn will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

The announcement was made Thursday at Fort Scott City Hall by Bill Michaud, managing member of FS Hospitality Group LLC, Lindsay Madison, executive director of the Chamber, and Heather Griffith, Fort Scott Economic director.

"We are extremely excited today. We've been waiting for this moment for a long time," Madison said. "Close to two years that we've been working on this project to bring a branded motel to Fort Scott."

The new hotel will bring additional lodging for visitors to Fort Scott.

"We do have great lodging facilities, bed and breakfasts, and other entities that provide lodging, but a name brand franchise hotel is one thing that we've been needing and haven't had here for over a decade," Madison said. "It will be a great asset to bring group tours, family reunions, sporting teams, sporting events, you name it. A lot of people traveling recognize a branded motel when they pull off the highway."

She said the location, between State and Main streets near the junction of U.S. 54 and 69 Highway is "excellent," with it being across from the Chamber office, the Historic Downtown and Fort Scott National Historic Site.

Michaud said bringing the project to fruition was a group effort.

"A lot of people in the community stepped forward to invest their own dollars," Michaud said.

Liberty Savings is the participating bank.

The city also has played a key role in brining the new business to town. Michaud named Macy Cullison, who was then the economic director, and now her replacement, Heather Griffith, City Manager David Martin, Codes Manager Brent Crays and City Clerk Diane Clay, but said there are many others in the city who have helped. He also thanked Madison for the many hours she has put into the project.

Michaud said he has been asked why he wanted to build a motel in Fort Scott.

"As I researched the community, and market...what I found is a lot of people get it," he said. "A lot of people understand that if you're moving any direction, you're moving forward or you're moving backward. Everybody I that ran across in this process understood and is highly motivated to moving this community forward. I want to be apart of something like that and I think I can help in that effort."

He said he has been told that many in Fort Scott refer to the vacant lot where the hotel will be built as "the hole."

"I've heard stories of a bus station at this location and that many citizens have played softball games at this site," Michaud said. "Today I proudly announce that by the efforts of these great people I mentioned and others not mentioned, we are going to fill the hole."

Dirt will be brought in to fill the hole.

"With an opening date of June 2014, we're also going to fill a hole in the local market, as there has not been a local branded lodging facility in Fort Scott for some time," Michaud said.

The hotel will have 59 rooms, a meeting room with a 30-person capacity, indoor pool, fitness center and will offer free breakfast and Wifi to its guests.

"I'm eager to support local businesses and work with the Chamber to increase tourism in Fort Scott and be a part of the effort to improve the business environment in downtown Fort Scott," Michaud said.

He thanked those who have assisted with the project.

Griffith thanked Cullison who began working on the project, as well as others.

"Clearly it's progress in the right direction and one more step that we can take to move this city forward," Griffith said.

The decision to build a hotel in Fort Scott came after looking at a feasibility study done in 2009. The study looked at the market and other similar markets, Michaud said.

"We based our projections on a feasibility and experience and other markets," Michaud said. "We did enough research to make sure we were investing in a market that would sustain this kind of investment."

Fort Scott's tourism industry has increased and is one of the top industries of the community, not only in revenue generated, but with the number of employees involved, Madison said.

"We do a great effort to recruit groups and provide attractions, not only our staple attractions of our Fort Scott National Historic Site, National Cemetery, Gordon Parks, Lowell Milken and other, but we try to provide fun and different things for groups, as well," Madison said.

Those range from home decor, historic churches and cooking demonstrations. She said by attending travel shows, she has learned that groups are looking for different, "quirky" attractions.

"We've worked hard at putting together a menu of different things that groups can pick from to do," Madison said. "That's added to make us different from other communities. I think this hotel will just enhance what we're able to offer."

The hotel will be locally owned and operated. Michaud said he currently is working in Topeka, but has already moved his family to Fort Scott.

The hotel will employ 15 to 20 people, depending on the season.

On Tuesday, the Fort Scott City Commission passed a resolution authorizing an industrial revenue bond. The city is not financing the project, but simply acting as a "conduit," Griffith said after the press conference.

FS Hospitality will receive a 10-year property tax abatement, but in the eighth year, it will begin making payments in lieu of taxes to the city. In that year, the company will pay 25 percent of the property taxes. That percentage increases each year until the 11th year, when it will pay 100 percent of the property taxes, Griffith said.

In order to obtain the bond, a cost-benefit analysis was done, which showed there would be a "very good" rate of return for the city and each taxing entities in Bourbon County, Griffith said.

"It's a significant return for our community, based on projections provided by the hotel," Griffith said.

Those returns range from financial, to new jobs, to new families moving in with children attending schools, she said.

"You have to look at the long-term and realize that, while yes, it's a tax abatement, we would not have those future taxes if we did not have that hotel here," Griffith said. "So it does add tremendous value to our assessments in the future. I know a lot of people don't care for tax abatements, but we're not getting that revenue now."

In addition to the property tax abatement, FS Hospitality will receive a sales tax exemption on building materials and the city is assisting in the cost of a new sewer line. That was a project that needed to be done, as the existing line has collapsed. The city will assist with the cost of the pipe and also provide some of the fill dirt, Griffith said.

The city also is working towards creating a quiet zone, which will prohibit trains from sounding their horns as they pass through towns. That's been an issue with other lodging establishments which have received complaints from their guests. The quiet zone is key to the success of every lodging establishment, Griffith said.

"Even with the quiet zone, trains can be loud," Griffith said. "I know talking to Bill there are a lot of sound abating materials that are being used in the hotel to limit that."

She said she agrees with Madison that Fort Scott has good lodging establishments, but some travel groups and business travelers prefer to stay at branded hotels.

"We have a of businesses in Fort Scott that people are not aware bring in professionals from all over the country that want to stay in a branded hotel," Griffith said. "But, having those people stay in Fort Scott instead of surrounding communities will open their eyes to what bed and breakfasts and other opportunities are here."