EDITORIAL: Hotelier is on its way

It may have been the worst-kept secret in Thunder?Bay, but hopefully Wednesday’s waterfront hotelier announcement will finally keep the naysayers at bay.

For the past couple of years, since Prince Arthur’s Landing opened, a vocal minority have loudly proclaimed no hotel would ever be built.
They criticized the waterfront development committee, lambasted waterfrot project manager Katherine Dugmore and called developer Joe Bova just about every name in the book.

Now, as Dougall Media first reported in 2011, we know that Delta Hotel and Resorts will be the company running the much-anticipated hotel.
Not only is the hotel confirmed, company officials said they plan to have it up and running by early 2014. That’s a little more than a year away. The two condo units won’t be far behind.

This is great news for the city, which is desperately in need of high-end hotel rooms.

While some say the waterfront is not the place to house a hotel and condo development, we say it’s the perfect place.
Yes, Prince Arthur’s Landing cost taxpayers in the neighbourhood of $70 million.

But it was money well spent. The splash pad and rink proved to be a magnet for kids of all ages, and the coming restaurant will likely be at capacity on a nightly basis, especially during the heart of summer.

That’s progress.