Four stories, 110 rooms, and $14 million are invested in the new hotel being built next to the Shippensburg University Conference Center on Newburg Road, according to Pennlive.com.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Courtyard by Marriott hotel was held May 20 while most students were away on summer break.
Interim President George “Jody” Harpster, state Rep. Mark Keller and Scott Brown from the Shippensburg Area Chamber of Commerce were present for the groundbreaking ceremony, Heraldmailmedia.com reported.
The hope with the new hotel is that the conference center will be able to host multi-day conferences and give visitors to SU a convenient place to stay.
The construction project is a partnership between the SU Foundation and Shaner Hotel Holdings, according to Pennlive.
When the bulldozers and trackhoes are gone and the hotel is ready for business, there will be 26 full-time jobs available.
The hotel lobby will boast a 52-inch LCD touch screen that guests can use to find local attractions, restaurants and sports information.
Before the foundation of the hotel was laid out, the campus farm was relocated behind the Cora I. Grove Spiritual Center, along Britton Road.
The SU farm club was notified of the upcoming construction in the fall of 2013.
“The Foundation was really supportive of our farm and offered that we could move further back in the field behind where the hotel was being built,” an SU farm club member said.
Instead, the farm club chose a closer location to the main campus. The Shippensburg Township supervisors agreed to let the SU farm club use the land for free along Britton Road.
The farm club grows a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which are used in cooking at Reisner Hall.
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