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Paducah Riverfront Hotel Undergoes Design Changes, Delays Possible

paducahky.gov

Groundbreaking on Paducah’s new riverfront hotel may be delayed due to changes to the building’s blueprints.  

The $19 million dollar project aims to bring a new 121-room Hilton Garden Inn to downtown. 

The goal is to provide accommodation for visitors to the Julian Carroll and Expo Convention Centers, which was once the role of the former Paducah Executive Inn. The project is also expect to bring over 200 direct and indirect jobs. 

Construction is slated to begin early this year, but, Paducah Riverfront Development Authority Director Steve Doolittle says project coordinators have been working through “several significant delays” including a change to the building’s architectural plans.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter building, it’s custom-designed specifically for this site," said Doolittle. "There was concern that it was being placed too close to the flood wall. We needed to work with the US Army Corps of Engineers. And the design issue: we’ve added a floor. Every time you do stuff like that it changes the total calculation on what it’s going to cost.”

He says the design was needed to accommodate the city's request for a top floor restaurant and bar, something the architects are still trying to work out. 

“We need to keep it at six [floors], so we still want to keep this rooftop element on the top floor but now we’ve got to make the other five floors a little bit bigger.” 

Doolittle doesn’t know how much the total cost of the project will increase for the group building the hotel, but he says an increased cost shouldn’t impact the city’s financial contribution to the project.

The city of Paducah is providing the land and $900,000 for non-hotel improvements including a pedestrian bridge connecting to the Julian Carroll Center, parking accommodation and a $300,000 safety net for the hotel's first five years of business to be repaid. 

Doolittle says the architects are  "90% of the way" through completing the new plans, so construction will begin shortly after that with an estimated 14-month construction period. However, the part of the project that sees renovations to the two convention centers is still on schedule to begin shortly. 

Rob Canning is a native of Murray, KY, a 2015 TV Production grad of Murray State. At MSU, he served as team captain of the Murray State Rowing Club. Rob's goal is to become a screenwriter, film director or producer and looks to the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie for inspiration. He appreciates good music, mainly favoring British rock n' roll, and approves of anything with Jack White's name on it. When not studying, rowing or writing, Rob enjoys spending his free time with a book or guitar.
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