Event set to showcase daily teaching atmosphere; mid-2010 opening on track
[Cedar Rapids]–The work crews at Kirkwood Community College will get a little breather on Nov. 10. Drills, saws and hammers will go silent briefly—very briefly—as college leaders and the Corridor business community gather to celebrate a rare but practical learning space for future hospitality professionals.The college will host a “topping out” party from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Florists, entertainment and many of the tour guides will be Kirkwood students showcasing the many career programs offered at the Cedar Rapids college.
About 500 guests are expected to gather in the adjacent Kirkwood Center for Continuing Education to take tours, sample student-made refreshments and learn more about the newest addition to Kirkwood’s experience-focused teaching programs. The existing space already is in high demand for training and meeting locations since its January 2008 opening. The center’s conference and meeting spaces will complement The Hotel as a full-service facility with completion of the lodging and restaurant spaces next summer.
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center has been under construction for about a year, with most major exterior structural work complete. With winter fast approaching the major focus will shift to interior finish work on The Hotel’s 71 guest rooms, including six upscale suites. Meeting rooms, a full-service restaurant and reception area will add to hotel guest experiences, while classrooms, teaching kitchens and demonstration labs provide on-site learning spaces.
But Hotel General Manager Lee Belfield says the most important learning will happen as students experience a working hotel each day of their studies.
“First, last and foremost this is going to be a real-world laboratory that happens to bring high-value hospitality to our guests. Our students will serve in many support roles to match their level of progress through our program. They will work alongside our professional staff as we take care of college guests and the traveling, dining public. This is going to re-define how hospitality careers are taught for the future,” Belfield said.
Students will fill roles of guest room attendant, kitchen staff and restaurant servers, through area supervisors, bellhop and catering duties. Belfield expects a professional staff of about 75 people to be in place, trained and ready to welcome the first hotel guests in mid-summer 2010.
Kirkwood’s Hospitality Arts programs have steadily grown in reputation for more than two decades. With the completion of The Hotel at Kirkwood Center the college will expand its capacity for teaching five Hospitality Arts fields. Students take classes in Culinary Arts, Restaurant Management, Hotel Management, Bakery and Food Service Assistant programs.
The added space, facilities and real-world learning opportunities should allow Kirkwood to accept 50 or more students per year in those areas. Those graduates will come at a growing time for the Iowa and national hospitality industry. Recent figures from the U.S. Department of Labor show the nation’s hospitality industry employing roughly 12.4 million people or close to one-tenth of the U.S. workforce. That number is expected to grow by 15 percent or more in the next decade.
Just hours after the construction crews take a break and the college hosts the topping-out party Nov. 10, it will be right back to business. Even as The Hotel at Kirkwood Center continues to develop and workers complete their building and finishing, a number of events and guests are already filling future calendar space. Hotel Director of Sales Jean Rogers is a long-time veteran of the hospitality and travel industries. She says it’s “business as usual for a hotel”—and for the college.
“We have had many business groups, event planners and individuals looking into booking with us starting in late summer. Kirkwood has always been known for the ‘just-in-time’ model in classroom facilities, with classes planned on buildings still under construction. This is familiar territory. It certainly keeps us focused and it’s an exciting time to be involved in this project. Our students will start learning with our first guests,” Rogers said.
Updated information on progress and plans for The Hotel at Kirkwood Center is available on its dedicated Web site: