Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center open July 10

BLACKSBURG, Va., July 6, 2005 – After years of planning, construction, excitement, and anticipation, the new Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center formally opens for business with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday, July 10, at 1 p.m. Overnight guests, many of whom have reserved rooms for the experience of being among the first to stay there, will begin checking in later that afternoon.

The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center is sure to become a favorite of Virginia Tech faculty and visitors as the perfect place to host or attend conferences, seminars, short classes, work shops, sporting events, or even an overnight getaway. It offers lodging in 147 beautifully appointed guest rooms, including three suites and three executive suites suitable for V.I.P. or special event speakers. The Hokie Stone-clad facilities are located at the intersection of West Campus Drive and Prices Fork Road on 25 lush acres with panoramic views of the Allegheny Mountains.

The adjacent Holtzman Alumni Center, named for William Holtzman of Edinburg, Va., houses the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and offices for associated university personnel. The Grand Hall, museum, special collections library, and meeting rooms will give alumni a special new home for their visits to Blacksburg.

Advanced technology is utilized throughout the hotel, with wireless network access in every room, including the ballrooms, conference rooms, and reception halls. To help make the most of the technology available, staff members trained in both service and technology are on constant stand-by to help ensure that each conference or event is a complete success.

The Inn has double the square footage for conferences and meetings than Virginia Tech’s previous on-campus conference center, Donaldson Brown, providing accommodations for larger groups. The inn’s private dining rooms, conference rooms, lounge, and elegant restaurant bear the names of people or places important in the history of Virginia Tech and Town of Blacksburg.

The conference center is named for Bill and Peggy Skelton of Blacksburg, while The inn’s elegant restaurant, Preston’s, memorializes Col. William Ballard Preston, a distinguished 19th century native of Montgomery County who lent his name to the school that preceded the university. The Continental Divide lounge recalls Blacksburg’s location on the Eastern Continental Divide—the boundary line between springs and streams that ultimately flow into the Gulf of Mexico and those that flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The names for conference rooms in the Skelton Conference Center refer to local landmarks, both natural and man-made, such as the largest conference room, Solitude, which takes its name from the oldest building on campus.

Virginia Tech operates both The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center and The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center with three goals in mind: to encourage the exchange of ideas; to enable the public to benefit from the university’s knowledge resources through conferences, workshops, and courses; and to stimulate regional economy.

Funding to construct The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center came from private contributions, revenue bonds, and the sale of Donaldson Brown to Residential and Dining Programs. It will be managed by Hilton Hotels, Inc., which currently manages the university’s Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center.

More information is available at www.innatvirginiatech.com.