“We really need to put that on the back burner,” he noted. “I would personally like to have a conversation with Middletown and say if you don’t have the Manchester, then why don’t you build a conference center — we’ll be part of that.”
“That’s where we can put our culinary program, our classrooms,” Owens said. “The Manchester is $19 million. Why not do something new?”
Middletown is “still interested in having a culinary school,” said City Manager Judy Gilleland.
“We are talking about whether the needs of the culinary school would be best met by adding onto the Manchester and utilizing the hotel for banqueting space,” she said. “I don’t think anything is gospel at this point.”
The hotel rooms have been “the tricky part” of the project, said Middletown project consultant Greg Pratt. Both the city and Cincinnati State have already concluded it’d be too expensive to operate the Manchester as a hotel.
“It’s tough to find people who want to stay in downtowns,” Pratt said. “What the community misses is the event center.”
If Cincinnati State does forgo the Manchester — which the city acquired in March for $175,000 — Gilleland said the city would look to other partners and developers to run it.
“There are many people who are interested in saving the hotel and making it work,” she said. “We don’t have an answer at this point.”
Dan Cayse, vice president of strategic initiatives and entrepreneurial development, said until a permanent space is secured, the college can utilize it’s partnerships for its culinary class offerings. Butler Technology and Career Development Schools offers the capabilities to do so in the short term.
Cayse said the future of the Manchester is “open for discussion.”
There have been conversations with an outside developer to bring in financing to renovate the building, according to Owens. This offer will become more attractive if the campus can stimulate Middletown’s downtown, Owens said.
“We want to be a partner on that building,” Owens said. “But the reality says I need to crawl before I can walk.”
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