The 97-room Wingate Inn at Charleston Southern University is the first hotel in Wingate history to locate on a university campus. Ground was broken Aug. 15, and building will begin in the next several weeks.
Ground was broken Aug. 15 for The Wingate Inn at Charleston Southern University. Left to right: Wendell Estep, pastor of First Baptist Church, Columbia, former CSU trustee; Kenneth Evans, chairman, Charleston Interstate Development Corporation, CSU trustee, president, Lord and Evans; Keith Summey, mayor of North Charleston, CSU alumnus; CSU president Jairy Hunter Jr.; E.L. Pooser Jr., president and CEO, IMIC Hotels; Bill Hall, vice president of operations, Wingate Inns International, Inc.; Henry Brown, 1st District Congressman.Charleston Southern will retain ownership through the Charleston Interstate Development Corporation (CIDCOR) under a franchise from Wingate Inns International Inc. IMIC Hotels, of Columbia, will develop and manage The Wingate Inn at Charleston Southern. Net proceeds from the hotel will be used to fund student scholarships and other Charleston Southern programs.
Congressman Henry Brown and North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey both mentioned the growth of the area around Charleston Southern’s campus. According to the South Carolina Department of Transportation, 31,100 vehicles travel on U.S. Highway 78 each day, and 70,700 vehicles travel Interstate 26 each day. Brown said, of the 750,000 people in the 1st Congressional District, one in seven of them pass by Charleston Southern each day. Brown praised Charleston Southern and said, “I’m grateful for a college rooted on the solid rock.”
The reception following the groundbreaking featured an ice sculpture to commemorate the groundbreaking for The Wingate Inn at Charleston Southern University.Summey talked about walking on the campus for the first time in 1966 as a student. “The education I received here taught me to be a visionary. What this campus means to me is what it has done for my life since 1969, when I graduated.”
The hotel, which is expected to open in 2007, is in Charleston Southern’s medical/business park, which runs along the I-26 corridor. “We’re excited about students doing internships with the hotel and other curriculum possibilities,” said CSU president Jairy Hunter. Other projects in the medical/business park are currently in the planning phase.
Bill Hall, vice president of operations for Wingate Inns International Inc., said “We’re very excited to be here for many reasons. This is our first hotel on a college campus. It is a tremendous opportunity for students to learn about the hospitality business and business in general.”
Ken Evans, chairman of CIDCOR, Charleston Southern trustee and president of Lord and Evans, summed up the excitement concerning the Wingate Inn at Charleston Southern. “We are a long way from the promised land, but we’re in the land of promise. What is earned from this endeavor will support students.”