“But we continue to stay in touch with our construction team and the boots on the ground there, and keep moving every single day. We’re still getting those daily project updates, and we’re happy with the way things are progressing.”
Showers began being installed in the hotel area two weeks ago, and the company is hopeful that by late April or early May, “we’ll be able to showcase a hotel room, and give people a sneak-peak of what it will look like,” Bender said.
The $144 million facility, which at 1.3 million square feet is to be the largest indoor sports complex in North America, is scheduled for completion around the end of this year.
“It’s crazy to see showers being installed,” Bender said. “It’s starting to look like a real building now.”
City Manager Joshua Smith in December said it was good to see the hotel taking shape, “with all the Matandy Steel (of Hamilton) studs everywhere.”
He said the construction team was using many local suppliers and contractors, and “They’re using a lot of local suppliers and contractors. Even their out-of-town construction workers more often than not are staying at the downtown Marriott, which provides assistance to them during very difficult hotel times.”
Visits by athletes and their families to the original Spooky Nook complex near Lancaster, Pa., is good, Bender said.
“With the regulations for out-of-state travel being lifted a few weeks back, that really helped us out, because we pull from a couple of the neighboring states for a lot of our bigger tournaments,” she said. “That was a big announcement for us, but we still have the temperature-checking devices at the front door, still doing the masks and social distancing, so it definitely looks a little different this year, but we’ve been very fortunate to keep a full book of business here.”
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