CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Marshall University and Yeager Airport officials are looking into the possibilities of attracting a hotel chain to airport property in a plan for a residence hall for the university’s flight school.
Earlier in August, a groundbreaking took place for the Marshall University Bill Noe Flight School that is slated to open on the 2.5-acre tract for the fall semester 2021.
Yeager Airport Director Nick Keller updated the airport’s board on the situation with a residence hall and potential hotel for Marshall students at last week’s board meeting. He told MetroNews that the original plans for Marshall were to build a hall for students to stay at the university’s South Charleston campus.
“The site where the Marshall campus is in South Charleston is basically on the hillside. So the only place to build is going into the side of that mountain. That makes the cost very prohibitive,” Keller said.
“It’s just very expensive to do that and that is why they came back to us.”
Keller told MetroNews part of the idea would be that the university would “guarantee a certain occupancy rate for the hotel” by having its nearly 200 aviation students stay there, making it a win-win investment for the airport, hotel chain and Marshall.
“Marshall could have a place to house their students. If you have a restaurant in there, Marshall would meet the needs of having a dining facility. With all the increase in military training, we would have a place on the airport where military service members could stay. Not to mention business travelers could stay there,” Keller said.
Keller added he believes there is no doubt a hotel on airport property would make the facility more passenger-friendly. He said the idea is not the first time it has been brought up since he took over in 2019.
“Think about if someone is flying in and have a meeting. It depends on the type of hotel but there is potential for conference rooms, event rooms. There is a whole host of opportunities that will make things more convenient and better for passengers,” Keller said.
Since the groundbreaking on Aug. 13, heavy equipment operators have been moving dirt to prepare for construction. St. Albans based Paramount Builders was awarded a $6.8 million contract to build a 10,500-square-foot classroom building and a 12,000-square-foot hangar.
Keller said no hotel chain has been identified as a potential partner for the project.