According to Director of Public Affairs Peter Rooney, the Trustees discussed many different options for the Inn at their last meeting in October. “The Trustees authorized College staff in the Lord Jeff committee to explore all the options and come back to them with a recommendation,” he said.
The final plan the staff recommended to the Trustees involves renovating the Inn’s existing 49 rooms, adding an event space and expanding the restaurant. “Once that recommendation was made, the Trustees signed off on it,” he said.
The approved project is not “as comprehensive as the project that was originally proposed about a year ago,” noted Rooney.
The original plan also included the addition of 20 extra rooms.
However, the new plan is flexible and allows for the addition of more rooms later if financially feasible.
The College also recommended to the Trustees that they take on the $14 million project without a private partner and finance the project with the Inn’s expected future revenue. “[The Trustees] view this as a financial investment and expect it to yield profits down the road,” said Rooney.
Rooney stressed that this investment will not incorporate “resources that would [otherwise] be going toward financial aid or faculty pay.” He continued, “We expect the Inn will pay for itself with the profit generated from its operations.”
According to Rooney, the recent alumni donations have not played a role in the decision to go ahead with the new project. “This is a financial, business decision — we really view the Lord Jeff renovation project as an investment,” he explained. “None of the funds from the Capital Campaign or from those donations will be used to finance this.”
The plan also provides for the 50 geothermal wells that were drilled at the project site last winter. These wells, which are each 500 feet deep, will provide environmentally friendly heating and cooling to the Inn once it is finished.
According to Rooney, the Chamber of Commerce, town manager and other local leaders have all greeted the project with enthusiasm. “They’re very excited about this,” he said. “We’re excited as well, and we look forward to beginning work on the project soon. This is not only a financial investment by the College, but also an investment by the community in the downtown area that will provide benefits to both the College and the community.”
“We’re very excited to be able to proceed with this project, which is so important to the health and vitality of downtown Amherst,” College President Tony Marx agreed. “We consider this project to be an investment that will provide very significant benefits to the College and the Amherst community.”