FRUITLAND -- When most people think of Fruitland, they usually think of a small, residential community just outside of Cape Girardeau and Jackson. Not many would expect to find a hotel there.

But soon, actually in less than a year, a four-story hotel will stand out among the fields along Highway 61 just off Interstate 55. Drury Southwest Inc. broke ground on the site two weeks ago and hope to have a hotel built by June 1, 1995.

"Fruitland is a growing community," said David Poe, operations director for Drury Southwest. "We want to fulfill the needs of both the community and the interstate traffic."

The hotel, which has not yet been named, will have a swimming pool in addition to a three-acre lake and walking track. A total of 44 rooms are expected to be built. There will be single rooms as well as suites designed in part to accommodate business people traveling to the area.

"Procter and Gamble and M&W Packaging are two large companies in the area that have not been targeted until now," Poe said.

The community was quite surprised to hear about a hotel coming to Fruitland.

"They were all surprised about the Dairy Queen we built here a few months ago, but it's booming." Poe said. "Once the community sees how busy the hotel will be, they will appreciate it. They will appreciate that they can have people to visit without sending them to stay in a hotel in either Cape or Perryville."

The exterior of the hotel will look similar to its neighbor, the Bavarian Banquet Hall, also owned by Drury Southwest. It will have an old rustic German look on the outside, capturing the German history of the town.

"This is not going to be your generic hotel; this is going to be something unique," Poe said.

Initially, there will be no restaurant in the hotel but one may be built in the future.

Although the hotel will have access for commercial truck parking, most of its business is not expected to come from the highway. Poe said he thinks it will be a mix of highway traffic, community use, business people and overflow from Cape Girardeau hotels.