(Columbia) Sept. 2, 2003 - The meeting between USC
officials and members of the state hospitality industry
got underway around 6:30pm Tuesday in the governor's
office. It marks at least the second time Governor Mark
Sanford has intervened to try to get the conflict over
USC's proposed construction of a hotel resolved.
Business owners are blasting efforts to create a
hotel at the University of South Carolina on radio ads
airing around Columbia. The hotel will be designed
mostly to provide more space for federal prosecutors
attending classes at the National Advocacy Center on
Pendleton Street.
The radio ads are paid for by members of the state's
Small Business Chamber of Commerce and Hospitality
Association. Tom Sponseller with the Hospitality
Association of South Carolina says the USC plan will
hurt downtown hotels, "Columbia, unfortunately only has
about a 60% occupancy rate, which is borderline
break-even for a lot of hotels. So you put this type of
rooms in with their immediate built-in customer referral
system and it could be devastating to some of the
privately owned hotels."
Ad agency owner Frank Knapp sees an even larger
problem, "This is not simply a hotel issue. This is
something that every small business should be concerned
about. That government is starting to intrude more into
the private sector."
The University continues to brush off the criticism.
USC spokesman Russ McKinney says the next step is asking
the Columbia City Planning Commission for a designation
that would allow construction with only a limited number
of parking spaces, "We've not really heard any outrage
from the business community. We have heard a couple of
the hotel owners here in Columbia who do have some
concerns about the project and we understand that, but
we're moving ahead with the project and feel it's
something with merit."
A spokesman says the governor feels its important to
get this controversy resolved and Sponseller says he's
hoping Tuesday night's discussion will find some common
ground. He says hotel operators helped USC develop its
School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration
and the industry does not want war with the
University.
By Jack
Kuenzie
Posted 8:33pm by BrettWitt
