PERRY, Iowa-
Operating losses will shudder the doors of one of Iowa’s historic hotels.
The owners of the Hotel Pattee, in Perry, said Monday that they will close the hotel by Dec. 30. They cited “substantial operating losses” since the refurbished hotel reopened 10 years ago.
Andrew Olson, a spokesman for the hotel’s owners, Roberta and Howard Ahmanson, of California, called the decision to close the hotel “excruciating.”
“It was extremely difficult,” Olsen said, but “it was a business decision.”
The Ahmansons invested $10 million to restore the nationally recognized hotel, but the investment never paid off in terms of visitors. Olsen said the hotel has lost money “every month” since its restoration was completed.
The hotel’s 35 full-time employees have been notified of the hotel’s closing. Perry City Administrator Butch Niebuhr called the decision to close the Hotel Pattee a “big loss for us.”
In addition to the lost jobs, the Hotel Pattee was also a significant tourism attraction, drawing hundreds of visitors each year to Perry, a small Dallas County town of 7,250.
Niebuhr said he hopes new owners will emerge before the hotel closes.
Olsen said the Ahmansons were exploring several options for the hotel, including selling it.
——
Information from: The Des Moines Register,
