CDP working to bring hotel to downtown

Bringing a hotel to downtown Philadelphia to accommodate Marty Stuart Congress of Country Music visitors is in the works, Community Development Partnership President David Vowell has confirmed, adding that negotiations are in the early stages.

Vowell confirmed that his office is “working hard” on a downtown hotel but said he is unable to release any details, including a site for the proposed hotel, as they have yet to secure an agreement with a hotel developer.

“We are working on a downtown hotel,’ Vowell said. “There have been several visits from interested investors and meetings attempting to achieve acquiring a real nice facility. Hopefully, we can complete this effort.” 

Congress of Country Music Executive Director Dr. Dan Barnard had initially mentioned the potential hotel while promoting the grand re-opening of the Ellis Theater in early December where Marty Stuart and other artists including Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill and The Bill Gaither Vocal Band performed over several nights at the newly renovated Ellis Theater.

Barnard said that many grand re-opening attendees stayed at the Pearl River Resort but noted investors might be interested in building a hotel downtown given the success so far.

Country music and Marty fans came from Wisconsin, Texas, California, Kentucky, Florida, Nashville and across the Southeast, Barnard said. And he said there were Marty Stuart fans who traveled from Germany to be at the event.

“The community really responded,” Barnard said following the event. “This was as good an opening as we could have gotten. We had a good product to sell because Marty loaded us up with big-time acts. The committee that set everything up, it worked beautifully.”

The long-anticipated reopening of the Ellis Theater is the centerpiece of Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music.

The Ellis marked Phase I of the $40 million project. Funding efforts for the next phase to purchase Stuart’s large collection of memorabilia will continue.

Stuart, a Philadelphia native and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, plans to have a museum and education center that will house his huge collection of Country Music memorabilia and artifacts. Proponents envision regular shows and performances at the Ellis.

For more information, go to congressofcountrymusic.org.