Long-suffering project will be complete by April 2026; Moore gives credit to many
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As the crowd settled into their chairs beneath the bright, white tent, Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore stood up and approached the microphone. Then, he made an unusual request.
“I know this is going to be weird to just work with me here,” Moore asked. “Look to the person on your right, find a spot on their shoulder, and lightly pinch them.”
The request drew light laughter, though several in crowd understood where the mayor was headed with it.
“This is actually happening!” exclaimed Moore. “This isn’t a dream!”
Moore kicked off the groundbreaking for a new hotel and convention center in Kokomo’s downtown on Aug. 13. After years of study, planning, and contractor shuffling, the multi-million dollar project is finally a go.
The idea for such a development started in the 1980s, with a study commissioned by local attorney Richard Russell. The hotel/convention center concept was revisited in the 1990s and again in the early 2000s, but it never found momentum.
It wasn’t until 2013, when the city administration of former Mayor Greg Goodnight was in the midst of a radical reshaping of Kokomo’s downtown, that the hotel and convention center finally got its footing and began to coalesce. Moore recognized former Kokomo Director of Operations David Tharp, who was in attendance at the groundbreaking, as representative of the decade of work it took to make the project a reality.
“I would be remiss if I didn't thank my predecessor and his administration,” said Moore. “A lot of the momentum that Mayor Goodnight did with the downtown – the Riverwalk, with Municipal Stadium, and a lot of the efforts of beautifying and making downtown a destination place – a lot of what he achieved in the 12 years that he served as mayor, we are still benefiting from. So, it's an honor to bring this final, large piece, to the downtown.”
Moore went on to recognize elected officials from Howard County and Kokomo government, as all of them had to agree to finance the project, at least in part. And then he thanked the staff and board of the Kokomo Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), whose devotion of food and beverage tax revenue to the project was essential for its success.
The invitation-only group also heard from Lori Dukes, CEO of the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance, as well as from Sherry Matlock of the CVB, and from the developers of the Hilton Garden Inn and Kokomo Convention Center, SSG Hotels.
With the thank-yous and appropriate credits handed out, the group then headed for the chromed shovels and turned the first dirt on the site of the project, located in the 200 block of South Main and South Union streets, bounded on the north by Superior Street and the south by the Wildcat Creek.
The project has a price tag of $27.5 million, with $22 million of that financed through bonds which will be repaid largely by food and beverage tax revenue. The hotel and convention center also will benefit from a Tax Increment Financing district, which will capture property tax revenue on the improvements made the to site and devote them back to the project.
The conference center will feature 22,950 square feet on its first floor, an additional 9,112 square feet of breakout space on the second floor, and 22,971 square feet on its lower level, part of which will be used for the Automotive Heritage Museum. There will be room for 10 cars to be placed on display in the museum.
Within the conference center space, there will be six breakout meeting rooms and a bridal room with a private bath. The main ballroom will be 8,687 square feet, and there will be a 1,565-square foot outdoor terrace. The hotel, a Hilton Garden Inn, will feature 108 rooms.
Construction is expected to be complete within 20 months, placing the hotel and convention center opening near April 2026.