Deck linking Marriott to levee gets green light
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for plans to tie a deck from the back of the new Courtyard by Marriott to the Oostanaula River levee.
The city wanted the link to the levee as part of the project right from the outset. However, developers did not actually file an application with the corps until February of this year.
“It’s absolutely great news for the Marriott project and downtown as we seek to grow our convention business,” said City manager Sammy Rich. “Having a pedestrian walkway from the hotel to the top of the levee will make accessing Broad Street a breeze.”
Ground was broken for the hotel project on Dec. 18, 2013. Originally, the developers, Duke Hospitality, hoped the 124-room hotel would be open by February 2015. A variety of issues, some related to foundation work, have delayed the project for the past four years.
At least three conventions which had tentatively been booked for the hotel had to be relocated. Two of them, a Georgia fire fighters conference
and a tri-state Optimist event had to move to other cities. A Georgia Association for the Deaf convention in July was able to be rescheduled to other hotels in Rome.
Officials with Duke Hospitality did not return calls to the Rome News-Tribune to get the latest timetable for the opening if the hotel.
A hotel on West Third Street has been a dream of city officials since 2004 when local developers Doc Kibler and Dee Yancey originally took an option on 4.4 acres between West Third Street and the Oostanaula River levee.
The hotel is being developed on a 1.54 acre parcel.
Developer David Doss still holds a sliver of property — six-tenths of an acre — between the Marriott and the Advance Rehab for Kids facility at 212 W. Third St. He hoped to bring a variety of retail to that space. At one time, Doss’ Samson Development had an option for property on the other side of the hotel, a 2.4-acre tract and announced plans for a condominium development but that project fell through.
The city took proposals for other development on the site but did not find any of the proposals to their liking. Rich said he anticipates going out for proposals again sometime later this fall.
City waiting on OK for West Third Street walkway extension
While Duke Hospitality may be finished with the Corps of Engineers as it relates to linking the new Courtyard by Marriott to the Oostanaula River levee, the City of Rome is not.
Rome Public Services Director Kirk Milam said Sunday that engineering for a new walkway that would extend from the top of the levee to West Third Street alongside the hotel is about 85 percent complete. Milam said the new walkway is being designed by Rick Standard, the same architect who designed the Marriott.
Milam said the walkway would be about 15-feet wide and would be located adjacent to the hotel property, connecting to the levee between the existing steps from the parking lot and the Chief John Ross Memorial Bridge.
Once the design is complete, it will also have to get approval from by the Corps of Engineers.
Rich said in all likelihood the walkway would be paid for out of Tax Allocation District funds, designed to help pay for infrastructure improvements in the West Third Street corridor.