82 people will lose their jobs as a result.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
82 people will lose their jobs as a result of Red Lion shutting its Vancouver hotel.
The hotel is closing during a Port of Vancouver construction project.
“The restaurant has been open since 1960 and the hotel since 1962,” said Pam Scott, a spokeswoman for Red Lion Hotels Corp. in Spokane. She said Red Lion hopes to reopen after the port, which owns the property, redevelops the site. But that could be years away.
Vancouver’s waterfront overhaul is already more than a decade in the making. The city and port hope to capitalize on the proximity to the Columbia River to remake 32 acres of aging industrial property in the style of Portland’s South Waterfront or Pearl District.
It’s been slow going as economic setbacks and land issues have repeatedly delayed efforts, which have a total price tag estimated at $1.5 billion. Current plans call for 10 acres of parks, more than 1 million square feet of office space plus 3,000 apartments and condominiums.
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
A chance remains that Red Lion could return after the project is complete.
Whatever plan the port chooses is likely to include a new hotel. Scott said that Red Lion is interested in being that hotel.
“We understand the excitement around the redevelopment,” she said. “We’re still in talks with the port, but the timeline is really up to them as they go through the redevelopment process.”
(SOURCE: Portland Business Journal)
The hotel’s last day of operation will be on Halloween.
