Plan your work then work your plan

Here's what it looked like in December 05 when I (right) met Mike McCormick at 8th Street and Wabash Avenue downtown Terre Haute.

Shortly after this, it was announced that a contractor would be selected and they would start work on a new hotel at 700 Wabash in April 2006. April came and went and
then May and now the front page of the Terre Haute Tribune Star says July. (This is making it tough on the Wiley High School 1957 reunion committee site selection subcommittee... summer 2007 will be here before you know it and each class gets only one 50th reunion).

I wanted to show you the frontpage as it appeared on the Tribune Star website in high resolution pdf format but they only save one frontpage in that format so a link to it will get you the front page from the day before you click on it no matter when that might be. That's too bad because it is a neat front page with pictures of an empty, fenced construction site surrounded by familiar landmarks by staff photgrapher Bob Poynter. His and other TS phtographers photos might be for sale sooner or later so it wouldn't be right for me to give them to you here.

You get to see a thumbnail of the Poynter photos of the construction site here or here if those links hold up. I'll copy the text here just in case it doesn't because there are a couple of items of interest in it.

Construction on the Hilton Garden Inn slated to start in July
By Howard Greninger
CNHI News Service

— Construction on the Hilton Garden Inn-Terre Haute House is slated to start in early to mid-July, said Paul Thrift of Thompson Thrift Construction Inc.
“It is a done deal. We closed on the property [Thursday morning] and the hotel is going to be a reality,” Thrift said.
Dora Brothers Hospitality Corp. is the owner of the hotel, Thrift said, declining to say if Thompson Thrift is involved in a partnership for the hotel. The new hotel is to be built at Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue on the site of the former Terre Haute House, which was demolished last year.
Thompson Thrift Construction Inc. is the general contractor on the nearly $12 million, 113-room, six-story hotel project.
“Our roles have been developer and general contractor. As developer, we have been trying to coordinate all the development to get it to closing,” Thrift said.
Terre Haute developer Greg Gibson, who obtained the former Terre Haute House from the Hulman family, said the sale of the property was delayed because “we were waiting on the architects to finish, so that is why the closing is happening so late.”
“I think this will be good for the community and the downtown,” Gibson said, adding it will help get revitalization of the city’s downtown moving.
The construction site “is prepared … the soil compaction reports are in and site is ready for construction. We are waiting on drawings from the architect, which are due next week,” Thrift said. “Once those arrive, the plans will be distributed and all the subcontractors will be contracted through June and hopefully on-site construction can start early to mid-July.”
The project will take 11 to 12 months to complete. The building will have a brick and stone exterior. The interior will be constructed with structural concrete, Thrift said. The hotel will have 109 rooms and four suites. That room number has scaled back from an original plan for 127 rooms.
Timothy J. Dora, co-owner of the corporation, is on vacation, according to a telephone message at his office in Fishers, and could not be reached for comment Thursday. A message seeking comment was left on the answering machine of a company representative and with co-owner Bob Dora.
Thrift said the hotel interior may use some memorabilia of the former Terre Haute House, but the cost to salvage much of the former hotel’s limestone for use on the new hotel was cost prohibitive.

I'll have to review the old articles to see if an architect was named. His, whoever he is, is a big responsibility. I'm glad to read that the soil compaction report is in because some folks expressed concern that the basement was merely covered with fill dirt and not compacted at all. I figured that was to keep someone from getting hurt in the basement hole and that it's the soil below the basement that matters. This could be fun to watch, this building of the Hilton Garden Terre Haute House. Too bad they won't use any of the distinctive limestone that was saved during the "Terre Haute House Tear Down" last winter?
The 127 rooms has shrunk to 109 but there will be 4 suites... no one says the four suites will be as big as the 18 rooms they replace but if so then there will be a places for the "haves" and the "have mores" to rest their weary heads.

In time for the class of 57's 50th reunion? We'll see.