By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
After dealing with flooded ground last year and a pandemic this year, the convention center is Hays is on track to be open this year, perhaps within a few months.
"I've been told by those close to the situation that they are moving along at the new Hilton Garden Suites ... and they are maybe looking at a mid-summer opening," said Doug Williams, Grow Hays executive director.
"They regained momentum and I think we are looking at an opening sometime this summer," he said.
He also noted just to the south of the convention center that construction is also progressing at the site of the Avid hotel.
"There is some good activity there," Williams said.
The big unknown now is how COVID-19 will continue to impact large gatherings, even as most of the state reopens.
"Obviously when you are talking about conventions, you are talking about a gathering of people, and we don't know what is going to happen," Williams said. "We are still in the great unknown. We don't know what the new normal is going to look like. But, at this point in time, things are progressing there."
Hays has been without a large convention center since the Ambassador hotel closed its doors in 2016.
"So this will be a much-needed addition to our local economy and our community," Williams said.
The number of hotel rooms available in the city also dropped considerably after the closing of the Ambassador, but the new convention center will bring back 110 to 120 rooms and the nearby Avid hotel will bring in another 70.
"We get back to the number in terms of total hotel rooms prior to the demolition of the Ambassador Inn," Williams said. "We have seen a lot of hotel construction, but people don't take into account that we have lost a large number of rooms when that property was demolished."
Williams believes the new hotels are needed in Hays and will be good for the community in a variety of ways.
"The reality is if we supported the Ambassador Inn before, and when it was the Holiday Inn, and we are just now back to that number, one would think that this will be a needed addition and particular a convention center that brings in a large number of people," Williams said.
Spillover from large conventions and money spent at local restaurants and shops will be good for the community, he said.
And the convention center could lead to even more development in the area once it is open.
The 10,000 square feet of retail space in front of the center is also already drawing interest from businesses, he said.
"When there are a large number of people there on a regular basis, it lends itself to additional retail, particularly restaurants," Williams said.
"It will be a good environment for a retailer," he said.