Best Western Preparing To Break Ground

DAYTON - Not long after the smoke clears from the Friday night All Wheels Weekend fireworks on the corner of Fourth and Main streets this year, the property from which they're launched will be the scene for another milestone celebration.

At 11 a.m. the next morning, local officials and Daytonites will help investors Darrek and Christina Duke from Anderson, Nev., break ground for the new 50-room Best Western hotel expected to be up and running in the spring of next year.

"We're looking forward to seeing the dirt moving and the sticks go up," project manager Fred Smith said about the biggest development project Columbia County has seen in years. "It's going to be good for everybody."

Dayton Mayor Craig George is equally excited.

"I've been living here going on 10 years now and ever since we moved here it's been clear we've needed a (mid-range) hotel in Dayton," he said. "It's finally coming to be."

The hotel to be built by Duke Resorts LLC and equipped with a large meeting and board room for gatherings and conferences, was approved by the Best Western chain of 4,100 hotels worldwide as one of its new facilities in March.

Smith said the initial building permit was issued last week while the grading and foundation permit was expected any day. With those in hand, the first construction phase will begin on or around June 4 when trucks and excavators from Jansen Construction in Portland will move in and begin clearing the site, putting in erosion control and placing underground utilities.

This first phase will last about 70 to 80 days, wrapping up in August, though Smith cautioned "when you start digging, you'll never know what you'll find."

By the time of the June 15 groundbreaking, "it will be very obvious that clearing and grading has started," he said.

Framing will begin late summer and is scheduled to be completed by Thanksgiving to make way for the final interior build out expected to be done by March or April. The three-story building will feature a meeting room with seating for 80 (dividable into two spaces), a board room for 12, an indoor swimming pool, spa, exercise room and plenty of parking, Smith said.

The owners decided to include a meeting space that's considered unusually large for a Best Western facility of this size because of local demand for such a gathering facility, he said. Normally, a 50-room Best Western might have a meeting space for 20-25.

"We've approached it as something that's a benefit to the city," Smith said. "There seems to be a real demand for meeting space."

New hotel properties go through an extensive review process before they are approved by the Best Western board of directors as a new member of the international chain, Smith said. Best Western was founded in 1946 by M.K. Guertin, a California hotelier.

It started as an informational referral system among member hotels. By 1963, it was the largest chain in the industry. As of the end of 2011, Best Western had 2,183 hotels in North America. As soon as the concrete is poured for the building's foundation, the Dayton Best Western can start advertising as a chain hotel.

George said it will be a welcome addition to the city and region, which has no mid-range options (between the higher-end Weinhard and the lower-end Blue Mountain hotels) between Walla Walla/Tri Cities and Lewiston/Clarkston.

The hope is that more travelers will stop in Dayton on their routes, make it a destination for special events or family visits, or simply decide to stay in the Touchet River Valley for what it has to offer.

The Best Western will only offer a continental breakfast, so guests are expected to venture into downtown to shop and dine. Local businesses will be asked to cater meetings at the hotel, Smith said.

The groundbreaking ceremony is expected to last about half an hour after the Outlaw Lawn Dragster Race.

After the ceremony, Smith will get ready to fix himself up as a new contestant in the Men's Drag Races as one fun way to introduce himself to the community.

Duke Resorts is already a sponsor of All Wheels Weekend.

Smith, who described the hotel owners as "very excited" about the start of their property's construction, said the Dukes wanted to keep their groundbreaking short and sweet as a part of the weekend festivities but "not to detract from it."