Sept. 30–Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and HCW of Branson, Missouri, announced Hunt Construction of Indianapolis will build the planned convention hotel Downtown.
The hotel project was bid a second time after an initial round of proposals came back above the project’s budget. Through the rebidding, Hunt was chosen.
A closing should take place “in a matter of weeks,” Winnecke Chief of Staff Steve Schaefer said.
Construction on the project, which includes a Hilton DoubleTree with about 245 rooms, an apartment complex, a parking facility, sky bridges and streetscape improvements is expected to take about 18 months.
The project’s financing includes a $20 million bond from the city. In all, the cost is about $71.3 million.
“Rebidding the construction package was an important step to ensure the project was within budget and to avoid additional public investment,” Winnecke said in a prepared statement.
“Hunt Construction provided a workable bid that gives us all an opportunity to progress towards a closing and finally move dirt on the site,” added Rick Huffman, CEO of HCW.
City officials broke ground on the hotel in March and hoped construction would have started months ago. They say were delays were caused by a licensing objection (later dismissed) filed with the Hilton company and the initial round of construction bids coming back too high.
HCW officials trimmed some rooms off the project and made other design changes to keep the project within budget.
The hotel’s opening, originally planned for fall 2015, now will be sometime in 2016, according to city officials.
The city is replacing the long-demolished Executive Inn, with the intent of returning conventions to Evansville and better utilizing the Old National Events Plaza.
The Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau says it will recruit state professional associations, church groups and others.
