If you’ve ever experienced or been involved with an old home remodeling project, imagine what Dan Hudson is doing: a complete restoration and total make-over of a 94-room, Morris, Minnesota hotel. Yes, just a little bigger than your average home.
OK, a lot bigger!
The new Hudson Hotel, LLC, opens in mid-2023 from the good bones of an old hotel, restaurant, and event center complex, most recently known as the Prairie Inn. This iconic landmark underwent several remodels over dozens of years, some of which were, shall we say, not very inspiring.
This time, Dan Hudson assures us, it will be done right.
For one thing, Dan sees it as a community asset that was built back when quality was poured into the building mix. In fact, he saw the facility had “good bones.”
“When these room doors are shut, it’s quiet. You don’t hear anything. I’ve been to other hotels that are three-to-five years old, and I go to bed early and I get up early,” he said. “I always hear people walking down the halls. Here I can have a band going down the hall and you’re not going to hear anything in your room. It’s built right.”
Maybe it was love at first sight.
“When I first walked into this building, it was almost screaming at me to remodel it,” he said. “I loved this building from day one. That’s what sold me on it. You look at it, there’s craftsmanship, and the history of this building is outstanding. There’s not one person you talk to that’s within a couple of hours of here who doesn’t have a memory of this place.”
Birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries, and many other you-name-it occasions took place at the hotel. “And that’s what I want to bring back.”
Dan’s passion for classic renewal projects, as he says, is his downfall. “I love looking at old buildings, old architecture.” And as the owner of a construction company, he’s taken on several of those projects in other parts of the Midwest.
This one, however, will be more than bricks, stone, wood, and cement. Dan is looking to relocate his home to the Morris area.
“I really get involved with communities. I want to find out what people are looking for, what the cities I work in are looking for,” he said. “I work with them to bring these old buildings back to life.”
In January of 2023, Dan gave a construction tour to Greg Wagner, Director of Business and Economic Development for West Central Initiative (WCI). WCI’s board approved small business financing for the project last year.
“Our overall mission has always been to support our communities on the needs they identify,” Wagner said. “For business financing and loans, we often partner with local lenders like the Stevens County Economic Improvement Commission to support projects like this.
“This is a fantastic project for Morris and the region,” Wagner added. While on his construction tour, a hive of workers – 20-25 people cleaning, building, tearing out, fixing, testing, and installing – were busy, aiming for an April 2023 soft opening date.
Dan says the new Hudson Inn Facebook page is filled with anticipation. “People are excited about bringing it back. That’s what West Central Initiative has invested in,” he said. “WCI is helping to bring this destination back to the area.”
Dan has a passion for keeping as much character in the building as possible, so guests feel the best of the past without sacrificing the comforts of modern accommodations. Ironically, that notion played out as Greg looked over the indoor pool renovation and thought back to his roots in the Morris community. “I remembered spending time on the pool deck as a kid,” he said.
It’s those memorable experiences that Dan hopes will bring people to spread the word about the new hotel.
So as the WCI tour winds up in a section of the hotel slated for renewal later this year, Dan points out an old telephone fixture on a wall.
And then he smiles, “There’s a lot of history here!”
(Editor’s Note: West Central Initiative provides loans for entrepreneurs in west central Minnesota. For information on loans or other small business assistance, contact Greg Wagner at 218-739-2239 or greg@old.wcif.org)
