L-R Joelle Washer, David Hart, John LLoyd
 
A very interesting presentation centered on the Celoron Hotel Project kept many Rotarians glued to their chairs this day. John Lloyd officially welcomed David Hart of Hart Hotels to the microphone to speak on the hotel that is planning to open in 2018.
 
David thanked Rotary for allowing him to speak, and started off by mentioning that this project began 2 years ago, and involves Peter Krog, who is his business partner, along with CCIDA. Site work in Celoron has already begun, with the hotel to be erected on portions of the former Celoron Amusement Park site. David actually mentioned later that when site prep was taking place, he walked the grounds and discovered an old penny, most likely dropped when the amusement park was in operation.
 
The new hotel will be similar to Harbor Hotels already in operation in Watkins Glen & Clayton, NY. There are 4 hotels total under the Harbor Hotel brand in operation. However, David was quick to mention that neither the Watkins Glen nor the Clayton hotels have the "backbone" that the Celoron hotel will have with so many area attractions and cities (Jamestown, Buffalo, Cleveland) nearby. 
 
David called the Celoron hotel a "destination hotel", with many different amenities to offer onsite. It will also be a 4-Diamond facility. His mantra for the project is "Build it, and they'll stay. Build it, and they'll come." The Celoron hotel will also be open year-round to keep staff trained, so during the slower winter months, they have many fun events planned to keep things exciting. 
 
Based on what's happened already in Watkins Glen and Clayton, David was confident that the 10-year impact of the hotel on the community will total $60 million in room revenue, $30 million in food and beverage revenue, so to say the hotel will be a boon to the local economy would be accurate. 
 
The Celoron hotel will have 132 rooms, and the site will even incorporate the old island that once housed the swing ride from the amusement park, which will likely excite local history buffs.
 
To find out more about the already existing Harbor Hotels, David encouraged everyone to visit this website.