GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Residents of downtown Green Bay have seen plenty of activity outside Hotel Northland throughout the fall and into winter.
The moving trucks, construction personnel, and yellow tape all represent a different piece in the larger effort to open the hotel.
“There are many, many, many pieces to this puzzle called the Hotel Northland,” says General Manager John Williams.
He says they’ve been busy at work throughout the year and finally can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
“A lot of things have to come together,” he explains. “Cleaning, organizing, placing furniture, placing furniture fixtures, and equipment.”
Most of the work inside the hotel has reached its final stage and is nearing completion. Poke the Bear, one of the hotel’s two restaurants, is a perfect example.
“Poke the Bear is probably about ninety-percent of the way there,” he explains. “I’m waiting for television installation, [but] the televisions are physically here.”
And some of the more time-consuming aspects to opening a hotel are the things that people don’t see and often take for granted, such as a safety system.
“It was time-consuming and it is done,” says Williams regarding the installation of safety components, such as fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. “So all of our life safety inspections are complete.”
This time can be tough because management wants nothing more than to open the hotel’s doors, while at the same time they can’t afford to rush along anything that might compromise quality.
“So far, so good,” he says. “I’m very, very pleased with where we’re at.”
For Williams, the quality of the hotel will always take precedent.
“We hope everyone in Green Bay is very, very proud of what we did,” he explains. “And I think they will be.”
Information regarding a tentative opening date for the hotel is not yet available but could be coming as soon as the middle of this week.
