I know this has been in this thread recently, but here's the city's OK (from the Ithaca Journal):
City OKs hotel expansion
Holiday Inn's $11M renovation to add conference space, rooms
11:00 PM, Jul. 30, 2012
Written by
Andrew Casler
A rendering of the Holiday Inn expansion looking west, away from the Ithaca Commons. The hotel is on Cayuga Street. /Photo Provided / /Photo Provide
A rendering of the Holiday Inn expansion looking toward the Ithaca Commons. The hotel is on Cayuga Street. /Photo Provided / /Photo Provided
ITHACA — The City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board approved an $11 million expansion Tuesday for the Holiday Inn.
The building, at 235 S. Cayuga St., opened in 1972 and is now functionally obsolete, Hart Hotels President and CEO David Hart said.
“It’s time to make our hotel new once again,” he said.
The plan includes a new tower featuring 194 guest rooms and a rooftop entertainment complex. The hotel also plans to add a one-story 13,845-square foot banquet and meeting facility on the north side of the main building.
The hotel’s north, south and west wings will be demolished to make room for the new tower and conference center. During construction, the existing tower and guest rooms will be renovated.
The renovation would add a total of 14 guest rooms and would triple the hotel’s capacity for conferences and other group events.
Demolition and renovation is scheduled to begin in November 2013. The entire hotel will be closed for the first phase of expansion, Hart said.
The renovated hotel, except for the new tower, is scheduled to reopen with about 80 rooms in April 2014, Hart said.
“We’re hoping the entire project — that being the new tower and the conference center — will be complete in the first quarter of 2015.”
Hart Hotels owns and manages the building. The company plans to time construction during the hotel’s traditional off-season.
According to JoAnn Cornish, city director of planning and development, concerns about the project revolved around pedestrians with parts of the plan adding curb cuts. A curb cut is where the curb tapers off for a car to cross the sidewalk and enter a driveway.
An early version of the renovation plans had added curb cuts, but the layout was redrawn to keep the number of curb cuts the same as it is now.
Cornish said the hotel’s added conference space could help bring meetings downtown, boosting the local economy.
Here's the link:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...otel-expansion