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New Pantall owners: They have purchased ‘an experience' |
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Front Page Story
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Written by Tom Chapin
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Friday, 03 July 2009 |
The new owners of the Pantall Hotel — the Pantall Hospitality Group LLC — announced Thursday that they had purchased the hotel. (Photo by Tom Chapin/The Punxsutawney Spirit)
PUNXUSTAWNEY — The new owners of the Pantall Hotel say they didn't purchase just a hotel with a restaurant, but something a little bigger than that.
"We bought an experience," said Jim DeLong, who is among the investors that announced their purchase of the Pantall Hotel Thursday. "And we plan to deliver an experience."
The purchase of the Pantall — built in 1888 by Theo Pantall — includes the hotel, restaurant, bar and retail stores. The new owners — known as the Pantall Hospitality Group LLC — purchased the hotel from now-former owners, Pantall Hotel Inc. The staff remains intact, DeLong said,
"We're really excited about this project," he said. "The Pantall is an anchor in this community, and we see all the potential in that."
He said the new owners see the Pantall as a cornerstone in the downtown area, and seek to maintain and improve upon that.
"The Pantall is very important to Punxsutawney, and we saw all that could be done with such a beautiful piece of history," said Mike Weaver of Punxsy, one of the investors.
DeLong said there are changes underway, but nothing massive or out of the ordinary initially.
"We want to go slow and listen," he said. "We're not coming in with a bunch of plans. But the thing that we'll do is make it better on Day One. As new owners, we want to make it better."
Weaver said the new owners want feedback from the community, as well, before designing a Pantall experience of which Punxsy can be proud.
"We know this is much more than serving a good meal or a clean room," he said. "What people think of the Pantall reflects on our whole community. Any changes and improvements we make, we will consider our responsibility to the Pantall and to Punxsutawney."
DeLong said the investors have been working on purchasing the Pantall for about six weeks.
He noted also that one of the group's focal points will be the restaurant, which they think of as more than just being adjacent to the hotel.
"We just want to build on what it is," DeLong said.
"When you think of the Pantall, we want something to come to mind," he said. "We want to make it a place where people leave, and remember that Punxsutawney took care of them at the Pantall."
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Last Updated ( Monday, 06 July 2009 )
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