Hammons Breaks Ground on Marriott

Development Will Contribute to Uptown Normal Renewal Plan

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. October 14, 2008

FEBRUARY 7, 2007. The nine-story, 229-room Marriott Hotel will link to a 500-space parking deck via a climate-controlled skywalk across Beaufort Street. The 45,000-net-square-foot conference center will be connected to the historic Normal Theater.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr. John Q. Hammons and the Town of Normal, Ill., celebrated the groundbreaking of the much-anticipated, nine-story, 229-room Marriott Hotel and 45,000-net-square-foot conference center. As part of Normal's Uptown Renewal Plan, the full-service hotel will link to a 500-space parking deck via a climate-controlled skywalk across Beaufort Street. The conference center will be connected to the historic Normal Theater. The first development of its kind in the city, the hotel will be owned by Mr. Hammons, and the conference center will be owned by the Town of Normal. Both will be managed by Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC, the nation's leading independent builder, developer, owner and manager of upscale, full-service hotels, resorts and suites (www.jqhhotels.com).

The development of the facilities marks one of the first major capital improvement plans the town has undertaken in nearly 20 years. The upscale hotel and conference center are expected to open in fall 2008 and will complement other features of the renewal plan, such as a multimodal transportation system, the Children's Discovery Museum, infrastructure and street improvements, and restoration and repairs to building facades.

Strategically located at the intersection of Fell Avenue and Beaufort Street, the hotel and conference center will be easily accessible from Illinois State University, home to more than 20,000 students and 3,000 faculty. An eclectic selection of dining, entertainment and shopping destinations are also located in Uptown Normal, which will become more pedestrian friendly as the renewal plan progresses.

"Bringing a first-class hotel and conference center to Uptown Normal will help the area become more of a destination and integrate the university's students and faculty into the area's new culture. The meetings and conventions business generated by the conference center will assure the success of the hotel and further the potential of Uptown Normal by attracting visitors from across the country," said Mr. Hammons, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC.

In conjunction with Bloomington (2.5 miles), the area's major employers and company headquarters, such as Mitsubishi Motors of North America, Inc.; State Farm Insurance; Country Insurance and Financial Services; Verizon Communications; Bridgestone-Firestone Off-Road Tire Co.; and General Electric, will serve as demand generators for the facilities. A well-developed road, rail and air transportation network also serves the Normal-Bloomington community, which increases the hotel and conference center's accessibility and convenience.

"The Marriott hotel and conference center project is undoubtedly the cornerstone of the Uptown Renewal Plan. This facility will be one of unparalleled quality in downstate Illinois," said the honorable Chris Koos, mayor of Normal.

Mayor Koos and Dr. Alan Bowman, president of Illinois State University, joined Mr. Hammons in the groundbreaking celebration at the Normal Historic Theater yesterday.