A look inside downtown convention center, Marriott

Originally Published Mar 25, 2009 11:57

By BERNARD HARRIS
Staff Writer

From the front door of the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square you can look into the lobby and down a block-long "interior street," that stretches to the far wall of the integrated Lancaster County Convention Center.

That gaze will glance off pale and dark wood panels, marble and ceramic tile, chandeliers, stone and exposed concrete and the incorporated brick wall of the 1804 Montgomery House.

Tom Smithgall of hotel developer Penn Square Partners said they are trying to deliver the "wow factor" promised a decade ago, when plans for the facility were first unveiled.

     VIDEO: Convention center, Marriott tour


But, good things take time, he said this morning.

The opening date of the hotel and meeting center is being pushed back about three weeks, until the week of May 11, Smithgall said today.

"We don't want to rush those things," Smithgall said of the detailed finishes being installed in the $170 million project.

"These are things that people will see and feel and touch as they come into the facility," he said.

This morning, Smithgall, general manager Mark Moosic and marketing director Josh Nowak led a detailed, 90-minute tour of the Penn Square project, as more than 350 workers were busy adding interior finishing touches.

Those touches include deep red carpet in the convention center lobby, wall coverings in the ballrooms that have the feel of cloth but promise to wear like steel, and concrete columns that are finished only with a wax coating.

"We're all grand and beautiful, but behind that we're very high tech," said Moosic, who added that the Lancaster facility will be the nicest he has worked in his 30-year hospitality career.

Behind the dark wood panels lining the walls are wired and wireless Internet connections and closed-circuit cable service.

That capability will first be used on a large scale on May 26, when the center's exhibition hall hosts The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry's annual dinner. Between 2,300 and 2,400 people are expected to attend, Nowak said.

The opening — delayed from April 21 — will require the rescheduling of the Best of Weddings Bridal Show that was planned for April 26. That will likely be moved to the end of May or early June, he said.

There are 28 events now booked for the center. They range from cheerleading and barbershop quartet competitions to consumer shows, such as boat shows.

Although there have been no bookings for entertainers yet, Moosic said that stadium seating can be added to the 46,000-square-foot exhibit hall that will give it an arena-like appearance and seats for 11,000.

That would put Lancaster in competition with Hershey's Giant Center or Reading's Sovereign Center to bring concerts, comedians or sporting events to the region, Moosic said.

Or, Moosic said, through the use of sliding walls, rolled out carpet and drop-down lighting the huge hall can become a small, almost intimate space for dinners and weddings.

Rising 18 levels above the exhibition hall is the tower of the Marriott hotel, with 300 guest rooms.

 Those rooms, starting at about $200 per night in the peak season, include 37-inch flat-screen television sets into which guests will be able to plug their laptop computers. In-room safes will be large enough to accommodate guests' laptop computers, and hotel guests will be able to program the safes with their own combinations.

There are "rainwater" showerheads in the bathrooms.

And, Nowak said: "We do not have a single room in this hotel that does not have a view."

Indeed, from even halfway up the tower, the view from the ninth floor looks out over the city to the hills of southern Lancaster County or the river hills of York County.

Hotel designers attempted to make the rooms feel "residential," Moosic said. Rather than having towel racks jutting from bathroom walls, there is a small towel bar and an open space beneath a marble counter where rolled towels will be stored, he said.

Moosic said the hotel will not open until staff members are trained to Marriott standards.

The hiring of as many as 150 people will come during the first full week of May, he said. After the hotel and center receive their certification of occupancy — likely by the end of April — the staff will be brought in for training for two weeks.

They will do a mock banquet. Managers will take the role of an angry guest.

 "We call them moments of truth," Moosic said. "That's what we want to practice."

Some of that training will be for the staff of the Penn Square Grille, Moosic said.

The hotel restaurant will be a contemporary steakhouse, with entrees ranging  from $16 to $40.

"We like to call it casual upscale," said Moosic. "Very sophisticated, but we don't want people to feel uncomfortable coming in in a pair of jeans."

A local restaurateur was brought in to help craft a menu, he said.

Inside the hotel near the restaurant will be a bar featuring local beer on tap along with national brands.

Project planners tried to think of everything.

Rather than having a "boutique" or "vanity" address, such as 1 Penn Square, Moosic said they opted for 25 S. Queen St., the address of the former Watt & Shand department store behind whose facade the hotel is built. That will allow people to put the address into their GPS units and be brought to the hotel's front door.

"We want to make sure we deliver what we said we were going to deliver in a quality facility," Smithgall said.

The convention center is being built by the public-sector Lancaster County Convention Center Authority. The hotel is being developed by the private-sector Penn Square Partners on a site owned by the public Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster.

Penn Square Partners consists of general partner Penn Square General Corp., a High Industries affiliate, and limited partner Penn Square Ltd. LLC, an affiliate of Lancaster Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Lancaster New Era, Intelligencer Journal and Sunday News.

DOWNTOWN MARRIOTT PRICES & FEATURES

Restaurant: Penn Square Grill.
Type: Steakhouse with seafood.
Entrees: $15.95-$40.
Hamburgers: $7.95-$8.95.
Beers on tap: Samuel Adams, Miller Lite, Stella Artois, Bud Light, Guinness, Yuengling, Blue Moon and a select local beer.
Room rates: $199/night & up (on an August weekend).
Room reading: Gideon's Bible and Book of Mormon.
13th floor rooms: None.
Non-smoking rooms: all.
Room TVs: 37-inch flat screens.
Room TV channels: 20-25.
Elevator music: "soft" songs, rotated frequently.
Ballroom ceiling height: at least 18 feet.
Parking: 300 spaces in Penn Square Garage.


Staff writer Bernard Harris can be reached at bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022.