By MARVIN HAMLETT

Editor

The Appomattox community continued its economic resurgence on Tuesday morning with the groundbreaking of a new hotel on Old Courthouse Road.

The Appomattox Inn and Suites is located across from Evergreen Basement systems, within site of the Museum of the Confederacy and the 460 Bypass.

The three-story, brick-sided structure is slated to begin construction as early as this week by Jamerson/Lewis Construction Company.

Once completed, the hotel will provide tourists with 56 rooms, as well as a 150-seat conference center and an outdoor swimming pool.

Construction is expected to be completed by late summer or early fall, during which time hiring personnel will take place for the new venture.

“This is a great day in Appomattox,” Town Manager Bill Gillespie said. “A facility like the one today has never been in Appomattox.”

The hotel, once envisioned as a Cobblestone-branded hotel, will now be independently owned, thanks to investors Bill Jamerson, Phillip Jamerson, Buddy Conner and Winfred Nash, a group also known as COJANA LLC.

The private investors secured financing from Farmers Bank of Appomattox.

The hotel will be professionally managed by Marshall Hotels & Resorts.

Gillespie chastised so-called experts that had warned local officials against hotel development on that stretch of road.

“We had experts come into town and said it never could happen in Appomattox,” he said. “But we had some sharp investors who saw the numbers and saw the opportunity.”

The Town of Appomattox funded a feasibility study for the hotel, and Council also sent Gillespie to Minneapolis to learn how small community hotels can be successful.

Appomattox Mayor Paul Harvey agreed that Monday’s groundbreaking marked “a very special day in Appomattox.”

“This is a long-awaited, much-anticipated announcement for our locality,” Mayor Harvey said. “This will help revitalize tourism and push forward economic development. … It’s going to mean a lot to businesses as well as tourists.”

Conner noted that the hotel will be modified to allow for an outdoor pool, as well as a bar/lounge/breakfast area, which will have a double-sided fireplace and interior decorations that resemble the McClean House.

“We look forward to providing a facility that everyone can be proud to have added to this developing community,” Conner said.

Willie Craft, who is chairman of the Appomattox County Board of Supervisors, said studies conducted in 2012 and 2013 determined that “lodging” should be a number one priority for the Appomattox community.

“We have been working toward that priority since that time,” he said. “And we applaud the partners of COJANA who have stepped up to the plate to make this a reality. … These efforts will provide a great opportunity for our citizens and visitors, and will contribute a much-needed boost to our local economy.”

All of Monday’s speakers heaped praise on both the Town and County of Appomattox, as well as each government’s Economic Development Authority and their staffs.

Mike Marshall, president of Marshall Hotels and Resorts, said, “This hotel marks the first new-build hotel property in the past two decades for the Appomattox area. “The Appomattox Inn and Suites: Professionally Managed by Marshall Hotels will provide area travelers with an authentic local experience that combines the latest in technology and services with the southern hospitality for which Virginia is so well known.

"The timing of this new hotel is particularly good as tourism related to culture and history is on the rise nationwide," Marshall added. "The town of Appomattox, with its singular place in American history and its outstanding living history attractions, is sure to reap the benefits of that trend."

Monday’s groundbreaking comes just a few months after Lindenburg Industries announced that it will be locating in the old Thomasville plant and creating 349 jobs. Some banking issues delayed the Lindenburg project by a few months, but the venture is now back on track.

Also, an announcement is expected in the coming weeks for a job-creating business that may locate in the Appomattox Industrial Park. Details, however, are sketchy at this point.