Cedar Rapids, IA -- Kirkwood Community College will celebrate the steady progress being made on the construction of The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, a 71-room on-campus teaching laboratory for the college's hotel and culinary students with a 'topping off' ceremony on Tuesday, November 10th The hotel is on schedule to open in July 2010.
In addition to joining the college and community in ceremonial tradition of "topping off" the highest point of construction with the final beam, staff, faculty, students and college leaders plan to showcase The Hotel's design and décor as well as banquet and catering services, guest amenities and potential convention/conference capabilities. Hard hat tours will show invited guests the lobby, restaurant and guestrooms in various stages of construction. In the adjacent conference center, students will serve canapés prepared by recent college alumni and current students, hear music from award-winning Kirkwood musical groups and admire art acquired especially for the hotel. In keeping with the topping-off tradition, guests will add their signatures to the large artwork that will eventually be the lobby centerpiece welcoming future guests.
As the tangible elements of the hotel are realized, many of the functions that bring it to life "teaching students and welcoming guests" are already in place. Several members of the professional management team are already making room reservations, scheduling groups and coordinating curriculum around the facility even though the rooms around them do not yet have finished walls or floors. Excitement about the new "hospitality laboratory" is building, as student interest and enrollments rise along with the hotel's glass and stone profile.
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center and its adjacent conference facilities will be a real-time learning center providing real-world experiences for the college's burgeoning enrollment in five culinary, restaurant and hotel management programs. The facility will accomplish what General Manager Lee Belfield calls "world-class learning opportunities" while providing daily services to Iowa professionals, conference attendees and college guests alike.
"This hotel is going to create a new, alternative national model for preparing graduates for our hospitality industry," Belfield said. "We will give our guests a special experience, a warm and welcoming feeling as these students learn valuable skills in real time. Instead of getting that 'real-world' skill set during an internship at the end of their studies, our students will build those skills every day by learning from professionals in all areas. We think, as a result, they will graduate from Kirkwood's programs several steps ahead of other potential training experiences."
"Every moment of our event will say, 'This is your hotel, a creative new part of your college.' Kirkwood has a long history of making student learning useful for the whole community. The Hotel at Kirkwood Center will underline and highlight that. Don't be surprised to see our model copied and adapted in the next several years. Our faculty and staff are ready, our students are excited. Now, we get to share that vision with our community, the industry and our future guests," Belfield said.
More information on The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, including artist renderings and design details is available at www.thehotelatkirkwood.com
