Holiday Inn Express going up near Hammons Field

Visitors to Hammons Field's opening weekend festivities April 2-4 may have noticed another John Q. Hammons project under way across the street.

Hammons is building a Holiday Inn Express at the southwest corner of St. Louis and National, immediately west of Walgreens.

The 120-room, four-story hotel will be Hammons' fifth Springfield property and his 68th Holiday Inn nationwide.

Hammons was required to construct the hotel per his development agreement with the city of Springfield. Hammons acquired the 2.5-acre site in a land swap with the city.

Hammons is property owner and developer, while Springfield-based John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. will manage it. The hotel is scheduled to open in March 2005.

"Springfield's business, tourism, sports and convention industries are experiencing rapid growth, so there is an immense need for a new downtown hotel that can help support the heightened demand for guest rooms," Hammons said in a news release. "With Hammons Field so close by, the Holiday Inn Express-Springfield is a homerun for Springfield."

The new Holiday Inn will have approximately 1,000 square feet of meeting space to add to the business options downtown, the release said.

"Downtown Springfield is exploding with activity," said Tracy Kimberlin, executive director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, in a news release. "In addition to Hammons Field, a new expo center, ice park and 977-space car park have opened within the past two years. All of these developments, a visitor information center, and dozens of restaurants and nightclubs will be within walking distance of the Holiday Inn Express Springfield."

Springfield CVB recently relocated its administrative offices and a tourism information center to Jordan Valley Park, in the ground floor of the parking garage.

Hammons' other Springfield properties are the Courtyard by Marriott, the Holiday Inn Springfield North Hotel and Conference Center, the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center and the Residence Inn by Marriott.

In other John Q. Hammons Hotels news, the company completed a $3 million renovation of the Embassy Suites Hotel Kansas City-International Airport in March.