Downtown Oshkosh hotel nears completion

OSHKOSH - It's been nearly a year since remodeling work began on an Oshkosh hotel.
     
But the $16 million facelift to the Premier Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center will put a spotlight on the downtown.

Tuesday the owners gave a tour of the changes.   

The luxurious new Oshkosh Premier Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center is a shell of it's former self.

"Other than the shell that you see on the outside, almost everything has been replaced," said managing partner Rich Batley.

• Click to see photos inside the hotel

The former City Center hotel has been undergoing a $16 million transformation over the past year. Creating 176 deluxe rooms, eight suites, a restaurant and plenty of meeting space.

"It's going to be a beautiful facility," said Batley.

While construction work continues at a fever pitch and there is still plenty of work left to be done, hotel owners say they plan to be ready to welcome guests in April.

A group of local investors, the UW-Oshkosh Foundation and the city of Oshkosh are working together. Bringing jobs and people to Downtown Oshkosh.

"We're going to employ about 200 people and most of them local," said Batley. "Then of course when you bring in conventions and conferences and weddings and people staying it should impact the whole area."

But it won't just be money and visitors. The UW-Oshkosh Foundation will use a portion of its profits from the hotel to fund scholarships to the school for local students.

"It means a lot to our university and our students because we don't engage in things like this unless we can demonstrate it will significantly enhance the quality of the education that our students get," said UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Richard Wells.

Owners say the views of the Fox River and Lake Winnebago will give the more than 40 weddings and conventions booked for this year a reason to come back.

"There is a lot of things that we can do with the hotel and convention center that enhances tourism," said Wells.

More than 180 rooms worth of reasons to come to downtown.

"I hope you'll see a lot of growth and change around the hotel," said Batley.