Staff writer
bsmialek@observer-reporter.com
The Canton 2010 plan to revitalize the Jessop Place exit of Interstate 70 has suffered a setback.
Value Place Hotel, which had planned to build a four-story extended stay hotel on the property where the former Hayes Avenue School stood vacant for 40 years, has dropped plans for a possible expansion into Southwestern Pennsylvania, including the Canton Township location.
Sam Bear, chairman of the Canton supervisors, at Thursday's meeting called the Value Place decision "unfortunate," but said at least two other companies have expressed an interest in the property. Bear did not elaborate.
According to Gary Fisher, manager of development services for the 90-location hotel chain, "the timing was not right for us to come into Washington County, and perhaps the location wasn't quite right for us, at least to start in Pennsylvania.
"It was nothing that Canton Township did wrong or the board of supervisors. They were easy to work with. It was just the wrong time, that's all," he said.
"I was so looking forward to this project going forward, because I have in-laws who live in the Bridgeville area," he added.
Fisher declined to disclose the cost of the 2.1 acres of now-cleared property, saying only that the entire cost of the 124-room hotel would have been $5.5 million, including land acquisition and land development.
"The one good thing that came out of this for Canton Township is that it got rid of that unsightly old school building, even though it cost the money," Fisher said. The demolition of the two-story Hayes Avenue school, including asbestos removal, cost $75,000 to $80,000.
In a related development with regard to the 2010 Project, according to Bear, Allegheny Technologies has discussed making improvements to its site, and the former Falcon Plastics building is being repainted.
"We hope to have some good news for the area," Bear said. "We just don't know when at this point."