Decades of service: Altoona Grand Hotel marks 50 years in business

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski /
The Altoona Grand Hotel is at 1 Sheraton Drive.

When the Altoona Sheraton Motor Inn opened its doors on May 6, 1974, it was advertised as “the place that has everything you want in a relaxing atmosphere … and more.”

Today, as the Altoona Grand Hotel, the county’s only full-service hotel is marking 50 years in business.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been 50 years since Dr. (Joe) Haller built the Sheraton. It was upscale — even elegant — and was the place to go for any formal events,” said President/CEO Joe Hurd of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce.

The Inn was built by a group of local businessmen called Fairway Development Co., comprised of Maurice A. Lawruk and Drs. Joseph Haller, Thomas Nardozza and Donald Hensler.

The 134-unit, two-story hostelry surrounded an enclosed tropical patio, half of which was a slate and flagstone dining area accented by tropical plants and shrubbery.

The motel had a 200-seat dining room, a 400-seat ballroom and a lounge capable of accommodating 200 people. Ten meeting rooms were available to serve groups from 10 to 400.

The upper interior rooms had individual five-foot patios overlooking the swimming area. Nightly entertainment was planned for the lounge.

Duane Bordell, now travel coordinator for Raystown Transit Services, was the first general manager.

Bordell remembers an open house held before the new facility opened.

“Hundreds and hundreds of people came out for the open house, traffic was lined up all along the boulevard. This was the number one attraction at that time. It was delightful to see so many people come out and meet the staff. It was a beautiful day. It was a tremendous offering created by the owners, Allegheny Township and local officials. It was something to behold, it was an attraction the people could be proud of,” said Bordell, who served as general manager for six months.

Lawruk, 93, is the only surviving member of the original ownership group.

“Fifty years ago, there were very few motels in the area. We knew they were going to do a bypass in that area and that opening a motel there would do well. I had recently purchased ground that had a farm on it in the area we envisioned putting a motel up at. My partners and I decided to build a motel and wanted it to be one of the best around,” Lawruk said.

The motel was built by M.A. Lawruk Builders Inc.

“Construction took eight months to build, which was done in record time. It had a wonderful 3-star restaurant, which we always joked around and called it a 5-star restaurant. It always did very well. When they opened, people were there standing in line to get in and see the place. The rooms were always full,” Lawruk said. “There wasn’t anything like it around at the time. It was something I was always proud of, helping bring that business into our community and lay the foot print for all the businesses to come on Plank Road.”

In 1977, plans for the addition of 100 rooms to the existing 134 rooms were announced. The new $1.2 million, three-story addition on the north side of the existing inn would also contain a meeting room and private dining facility.

The facility remained the Sheraton until 2000 when it became the Altoona Ramada Conference Center, owned by the Persio family.

“Through the years, it lost some of that glitz but continued, as the Ramada, to be the only venue that could boast full-service amenities,” Hurd said.

In 2014, the hotel was purchased by a group of businessmen headed by John Ventura, president of Courtesy Motors and general partner of Jethro’s Restaurant.

“The hotel was needy when we took over. Since 2014, we have invested over $3.5 million for renovations. The entire property was renovated, with focus areas in the rooms, lobby, restaurant, ballroom and courtyard. We also added an outdoor patio,” Ventura said.

Today the hotel has 125 fully remodeled rooms in the main building and 90 rooms in the north tower, designated primarily for extended stays.

The Altoona Grand Hotel employs 50 people.

Ventura said the business has been going well since the acquisition.

“We have been improving every year since we’ve been in business. We are constantly hosting weddings, meetings, conferences and expos,” Ventura said. “Our key to success is customer service. Our goal is to exceed expectations by providing world-class service.”

“As the Altoona Grand, it has slowly found its way back to a status of considerable consequence. The current owners have done a stellar job recognizing where the opportunities are in what has become an impressive array of local lodging properties. It was an important part of the hotel industry 50 years ago and it remains important today,” Hurd said.

The Altoona Grand Hotel is important to the local tourism industry.

“As Explore Altoona values each of its partners, the Altoona Grand Hotel’s number of rooms holds a significant position among hotel properties within Blair County’s total lodging capacity of 1,334 rooms, and provides an ability for the destination to attract larger groups for meetings, events and various structured niche group travel. In addition, as the destination’s only full-service hotel property, that attribute positions the Altoona Grand in a favorable position to host its own special events as a unique venue in Blair County,” said Mark Ickes, Explore Altoona executive director.

Ventura said renovations of the property will continue.

“A future project for the property is to renovate the north tower for extended stay guests,” he said, adding that extended stay is a quickly growing segment in the hotel industry. In addition, Ventura said “we are also constantly improving our restaurant and event spaces.”

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.