BOALSBURG — The Harris Township Board of Supervisors gave unanimous approval April 10 for the Ramada Group to move ahead with plans to add a 100-unit hotel to the Mountain View Country Club and breathe new life into the existing golf course.
With just a few environmental clearances yet to get in order, Joe Thomas, general manager of the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center in State College, is confident dirt will fly in May and the new facility will be open and ready by the start of the 2018 football season.
“There’s just a few more small things to work out, then the site work can begin,” Thomas told the Gazette after the supervisors gave their OK for the project. “It’s an aggressive timeline, but we’ve been patient to this point. Now, we’re ready to bring a much-needed hotel, conference center and golf resort to Centre County.”
LONG ROAD
The supervisors’ decision paved the way to begin a project now more than five years in the making. The Ramada group purchased the property in 2012 from the State College Elks Lodge and kept the golf course and banquet facilities in operation. Since then, the group has been working to get the proper permits, plan designs and paperwork together to present the hotel project to the township.
It was not easy.
The original plans were submitted to the Harris Township Planning Commission several months ago. Issues with specific aspects of the plan were questioned, including placements of environmental-friendly riparian buffers and an on-site sewage collection system, and reserving an area for the future development of a bicycle path. The group had asked the planning commission to waive these issues, and the commission agreed, as did the supervisors when they cast their votes in favor of the project.
Those waiver requests included relieving the group of 29.93 percent of required riparian buffer space because of the layout of the golf course. To remedy this, the group offered to create additional riparian buffer space on another area of the property that will be a benefit to the environment.
The group also asked to waive an ordinance requiring new developers to connect into the public sewage system. The main hotel and banquet facility will be serviced through the public system; however, an on-course building is connected to an on-site sewage treatment system. The granted waiver will allow this treatment to continue until the current system needs to be updated or replaced, at which time it will be required to hook into the public collection system.
2018 OPENING EYED
The plan will bring a 100-room addition that would be constructed directly onto the existing facility. The Wyndham Garden Hotel would also provide state-of-the-art dining and conference facilities, as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools and panoramic mountain views of Mount Nittany on one side and Tussey Mountain on the other. Thomas said guest rooms would cost visitors between $105 and $135 per night.
“Each of our guest rooms will offer a spectacular view of the mountains surrounding us,” said Thomas in a previous interview. “And, we feel we’ll have them at very, very competitive prices.”
Thomas said all the work, and the wait, has been worth it.
“Things are finally where we need them to be,” he said. “We’re right on schedule, and, it won’t take long once the construction starts. We’re looking to open by Sept. 1, 2018.”
