The vacant area surrounding the King Solomon restaurant is seen on a sunny Thursday afternoon in Centralia.
The King Solomon sign is partially covered by tree limbs Thursday afternoon in Centralia.
King Solomon's distraught exterior is seen Thursday afternoon in Centralia.
The vacant area surrounding the King Solomon restaurant is seen on a sunny Thursday afternoon in Centralia.
King Solomon is located at 1225 Mellen St. in Centralia.
One of Centralia’s well known eyesores is in line to become a flashpoint for future growth in the Hub City.
The remains of King Solomon’s Restaurant at 1225 Mellen St. are to be razed as part of plans to construct a four-story La Quinta Inn and Suites on the property. The Chronicle obtained site plans submitted within the past month as part of a building permit application by LQ — Centralia LLC.
Dan Taylor, the listed representative of the limited liability corporation, did not provide a specific timeline for construction outside of a desire for completion by the end of 2020. The planning documents and permit application are currently under review by various Centralia agencies.
Documents cite details such as an expected 88 hotel rooms and the redrawing of four lots that make up the derelict property. The most recent officer-involved shooting in Centralia occurred in February 2014 after a man told officers in the parking lot of the abandoned building that he had a knife and gun before attempting to flee down Elm Street.
A proposed 90-stall parking lot and creation of a stormwater detention pond on the southeast corner of the property are drawn in alongside the hotel. A new land parcel proposed for the corner of Ellsbury Street and Lakeshore Drive is designated for retail development. Improvements would be made to Ellsbury Street as part of the La Quinta project
“We’re very excited that this group is interested in coming to Centralia with this project,” said City Manager Rob Hill. “We want to enhance our lodging capacity, especially with all the improvements coming to the NW Sports Hub, and it will obviously be a vast improvement for the interchange there off (Interstate-5) exit 81.
“We don’t want our visitors going north to spend the night, we want them here having a positive impact on our lodging tax dollars.”
Municipalities in Washington receive a portion of the taxes collected on overnight stays at hotels and motels within their boundaries. Many, including Centralia, have a standing Lodging Tax Advisory Committee to redistribute those dollars to local nonprofit or government organizations for projects related to local tourism, with the expectation of generating more tax dollars.
Centralia doled out $250,000 in lodging tax funds for 2019, including $133,000 to pay down its own bond debts and repay itself for a loan given in 2018 to the Fox Theatre nonprofit. The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, Centralia Downtown Association, Downtown Centralia Festivals Association and Discover Lewis County also received LTAC grants.
The addition of a large hotel in Centralia also coincides with planned expansion of the NW Sports Hub adjacent to Centralia Middle School. The Lewis County Public Facilities District recently sold $2 million worth of bonds to help finance projects such as completion of the second level at the current building and the addition of 20,000 square feet for more indoor fields and courts.
Many athletes and their families do stay in Centralia, but some venture north to the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Grand Mound or south to the Best Western Plus or Holiday Inn Express in Chehalis in search of more modern accommodations. The only large chain hotels currently operating in Centralia are the Quality Inn off I-5 exit 82, the Peppermill Inn off exit 81 and a pair of Motel 6 locations.
“We wanted to add another higher-end hotel option,” Hill said. “I know that our staff in community development and engineering have worked very hard, I know they’ve had some challenges and I appreciate the fact they’ve been diligently working to meet them and get to this point.”
Representatives of the planned La Quinta and Centralia staff have worked for many months to iron out unspecified issues prior to the application being submitted. The Centralia City Council has discussed aspects of the project at least a half-dozen times during executive sessions.
Ultimately, Hill said, everyone is very excited to have reached the review stage and is looking forward to continued progress.
Calls to developer Brent Nicholson of Kirkland, Case Design Group of Portland and Baldwin General Contracting of Albany, Oregon, were not returned prior to press time.
