After more than a year of delays, work has begun on Murray’s planned Springhill Suites hotel.
Owner PriyeshNathu, mayor Jack Rose and Marriott representatives met for the groundbreaking ceremony on the North 12th Street site Wednesday.
Stephanie Butler with the Murray Convention and Visitors Bureau says finalizing the blueprints and securing a contractor slowed progress.
The project was first announced in July 2013; at the time, Marriott aimed to openJanuary 2015.
“Because it has a conference center and because of the bar, it’s kind of a unique Springhill Suites," Butler said. "And so, that was just going to take a couple of months and then construction was supposed to begin. But, those delays ended up taking a little bit longer than they were supposed to, obviously.”
Butler says construction should wrap up in less than 14 months, and the hotel will employ about 35 people when complete.
