DETROIT – The Pontchartrain Hotel in downtown Detroit will soon reopen and welcome guests after being shuttered for three years.
The hotel, known by many simply as "the Pontch" opened in 1965 and thrived for years adjacent to Cobo Hall at the foot of Washington Boulevard.
Detroiter Brenda Turner has fond memories of its glory days.
"I remember my dad bringing me down here when I was a kid for lunch every Friday, and it was just so extravagant at that time," Turner said.
The hotel changed hands several times and shut down in 2009 when it went into foreclosure.
Now a new owner will begin renovations and reopen the hotel under the Crowne Plaza name.
Michael O'Callaghan of the Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau said it was unfortunate the hotel stood empty for so long right next to the convention center.
"When people are staying over for conventions at Cobo Center and they look across at the hotel immediately across from the convention center and see it is closed, it really does make a statement about the whole city," O'Callaghan said.
He said the reopening of the hotel should be another catalyst for renewed development across the metro region.
"Downtown Detroit should be drawing conventions and major meetings into the region and then those groups would overflow into the suburbs. That's the way it used to be and that's the way it is going to be and that's the way it should be," O"Callaghan said.
Exterior renovations could be underway this summer.'
The Crowne Plaza Pontchartrain Hotel could welcome guests in 2013.