Conversations About New Cookeville Hotel Heating Up

Talks of adding a hotel near the New Putnam County Fairgrounds have picked up over recent months as the convention center nears completion.

Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said the discussions began some three years ago. He said that for many developers, the construction of the convention center and expo center were the keys to that interest. He said the convention center is slated to be completed in September and he hopes a hotel eventually follows.

“We think that having a hotel on site, once we get the convention center finished, build the expo center, and all the facilities we’ll have down there, that that will make that be a great tourism location,” Porter said. “Having that hotel where they can walk out of their hotel into the expo center or the convention center.”

Porter said discussions have been up and down over the past few years. Porter said Cookeville’s hotels stay sold out during the busy spring to fall weekend periods.

He said seeing interest heat up speaks to the value of facilities like the convention center.

“We’ve got all these events that are wanting to come here because they don’t want to be in the big cities anymore where there’s a lot of traffic,” Porter said. “You’ve got high hotel rates and all those kinds of things, so they’re looking to kind of get out.”

He said the county conducted a hotel study at the request of one developer.

“I think this is going to be a great location,” Porter said. “I think it’s going to be very attractive in the future for a lot of large events to want to come to Cookeville.”