MILL HALL - Though the conference center behind the Best Western motel in DuBois is for sale, the motel itself is not for sale, according to Joan Marshall of the RAJEL Corporation, which has owned the complex since 2005.
Marshall spoke Friday in the wake of a Wednesday news story that described a request to convert the conference center into a student dormitory, sent by the DuBois City Council back to the city's planning commission on Monday.
Attorney David Hopkins, representing the DuBois Educational Foundation, had said then that the foundation hopes to buy the conference center and convert it into dormitories for lease by students at Penn State DuBois. The college is located across Route 255 from the motel and conference center.
The planning commission had previously said it did not think an amendment to the zoning code should be allowed, while the city council directed the planning commission to reconsider.
"We are only selling the conference center, not the motel," which will have 42 rooms available if the sale goes through, she said. The motel will also keep some of the lower parking lot between the hotel and the conference center, she said.
On a related matter, Marshall said the Best Western has noticed an increase in business referrals since the Clarion Hotel along Route 219 (Rich Highway) north of town suddenly closed Thursday.
She said RAJEL Corporation wanted to clarify the status of the Best Western because, in light of that Clarion Hotel's closing, it did not want people to think that the Best Western was closing as well.
The Best Western also has a fitness center for its guests, but does not operate a restaurant.
The Clarion Hotel, which was formerly a Holiday Inn, closed abruptly after weeks of rumored financial difficulties by its parent corporation. The hotel's billboard says the hotel is "Temporarily Closed."
DuBois is also served by a Holiday Inn Express along Route 219 and a Hampton Inn near the DuBois Mall, plus several other motels in the area. A Quality Inn, formerly a Ramada Inn, near the Route 255/Interstate 80 interchange has stood vacant since a Jan. 23, 2007, fire caused more than $1 million in damages, according to previous stories. That fire was listed as arson, but no charges have been filed, according to archives.