DRURY INN CONSTRUCTION WILL BEGIN IN PADUCAH

PADUCAH, Ky. Construction of a five-story, 118-room Drury Inn Hotel will get under way here in the near future.

Work on the new facility, to be located at the northeast corner of Interstate 24 and U.S. 60, will start within 45 days, said Bonnie Chiaurro, marketing services manager for Drury Inns, Inc., St. Louis.

She added that the company plans to convert the existing Drury Inn at Paducah to a Pear Tree Inn when the new hotel opens.

The new hotel will be a joint venture between Drury Inns, Inc., and Drury Properties, Inc., of Cape Girardeau, and will be built by Drury Properties.

Chiaurro said the new facility features an indoor swimming pool and whirlpool and will offer the standard Drury Inn amenities such as the Quikstart breakfast, consisting of fresh fruit, toast, hot and cold cereals, coffee, tea and milk.

The company also owns a Thrifty Inn on the southeast corner of the same interchange.

Drury Inns, Inc. operates more than 60 hotels in 10 states.

Additional property on the southeast corner of the interchange, across from the new hotel site, is owned by another Cape Girardeau developer, Mid America Hotel Corp., which owns two Burger King restaurants in Paducah.

Construction is already under way on another restaurant Applebee's Neighborhood Bar & Grill on Mid America property.