Tim O'Keeffe, Communications Department, 315.228.6634

CNY innkeeper to operate Colgate Inn starting this fall
From Colgate In the News (www.colgate.edu)
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Office of Communications and Public Relations
315.228.7417

Skaneateles innkeeper William Eberhardt has signed a long-term agreement to operate the Colgate Inn in downtown Hamilton.

Eberhardt, who owns and operates Dining Associates and has been the proprietor of the historic Sherwood Inn on Skaneateles Lake since 1974, will assume management of the Colgate Inn this fall.
In addition to the Sherwood Inn, Dining Associates operates three other lodging properties in the village of Skaneateles, which is about 50 miles west of Hamilton. It also runs several restaurants in Skaneateles and throughout central New York.

The Colgate Inn has been a fixture on the Village Green in Hamilton since its construction in 1925.
Privately owned for many years, the village landmark and meeting place was saved from demolition in the mid-1970s when it was purchased by the Hamilton Downtown Inn Inc. Ownership was eventually transferred to Colgate Inn LLC, which is owned by Colgate University.

“Bill Eberhardt has a proven record as an upstate innkeeper,” said Rebecca Chopp, university president. “For more than 35 years his restaurants and inns have been popular gathering places for central New York residents and visitors. Each of his establishments has a character of its own, reflecting individual community interests.
“We are confident that, under his direction, the Colgate Inn will be a place where visitors and members of the greater Hamilton community alike can enjoy an atmosphere and experience that are true to our village.”
The inn has been managed by individual innkeepers and, for the past dozen years or more, by various multinational management companies.

“This relationship with Bill Eberhardt brings the highest level of regional management to the Colgate Inn,” said David Hale, Colgate’s treasurer and financial vice president.

Eberhardt’s son Ben, who grew up in the family business, will move with his family to Hamilton late this summer to provide day-to-day oversight of the inn as general manager. William Eberhardt and key members of his company, Dining Associates, will work closely with Ben.

The group anticipates retaining most of the current Colgate Inn staff. The Eberhardts plan to appoint a community advisory council that will assist in identifying needs for the inn.

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to become part of the Hamilton community,” said William Eberhardt. “The energy and vitality of this community and the university make Hamilton an ideal location for a country inn. Situated as it is on the green, the Colgate Inn plays an important, central role as host to residents and guests alike, and we are eager to make the Inn the finest experience possible for our guests.”
The Colgate Inn offers 46 guest rooms and dining in the Corner Grill, the Tap Room, and the Salmagundi Rathskeller, as well as a large banquet facility. The inn’s dining rooms and banquet facilities averaged 5,000 patrons per month last year. Over the course of the year, the inn also accommodated more than 12,000 overnight guests.

The first phase of a major renovation of the inn was completed this spring when the Corner Grill, a new library/study, and a refurbished lobby were reopened to the public.

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