Lewis to study hotel demand

LOWVILLE — Lewis County legislators have commissioned an $8,000 study to determine whether the county could support more motels or hotels.

"We feel we need this information," said Legislator Richard C. Lucas, R-Barnes Corners, chairman of the legislative Economic Development Committee. "The study will give us the numbers that we need."

County legislators on Tuesday, by a 10-0 vote, authorized AB&O LLC to prepare a needs analysis and feasibility study to determine whether a proposed hotel or motel would be economically viable. The impetus for the study came from a developer who is considering opening a motel or hotel in the county, Mr. Lucas said, declining to be more specific.

However, because it will be a county study, the Economic Development Department will be able to use the data for planning and, if a need is identified, enticement for other developers to invest in the county, he said.

Funding for the study will come from the county's economic development projects fund, Mr. Lucas said.

The county over the past seven years has seen a large rise in the number of available motel and hotel rooms.

Mr. Lucas and his wife, Susan, in 2002 added a 14-room motel to the Montague Inn, the Sears Pond Road restaurant and bar they own.

The Edge Hotel on Route 12 in Lyons Falls also opened in 2002 with 51 rooms, then put on a 14-room addition in 2006.

And owners of the Ridge View Lodge, on Route 12 just west of Lowville, over the summer constructed a 20-room addition at the rear of their 40-room facility, which opened in 1989.

Brantingham resident Jeffrey S. Shambo has begun work on a two-story, 40-room motel at 30 Bridge St. in West Carthage, about a mile north of the Lewis-Jefferson counties border. The Pleasant Night Inn is slated for completion next spring.