Holidome renovations prompt giveaway for students
By Mark Fagan (Contact)


The new owner of Lawrence’s biggest hotel is preparing to open an expanded sports bar, move in new furniture and install new exterior windows.

But first things first: Dennis Hulsing still needs to give away nearly 200 rooms’ worth of furnishings, and he’s turning to college students for help.

Hulsing, owner of Hulsing Hotels Inc., is offering to give students all the desks, nightstands, headboards, wall mirrors, armoires and activity tables now occupying the 192 rooms at the Lawrence Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive.

Just call up the front desk, make an appointment and have a college ID card indicating active enrollment at Kansas, Haskell Indian Nations or Baker universities, Hulsing said. Then just show up at the scheduled time — appointments will be scattered during the coming few weeks — with enough help to fill your vehicle and haul it all away.

“You get a whole room,” said Hulsing, who needs to make way for new furnishings that are part of an ongoing hotel upgrade. “It’s all in pretty good shape. I think people will be pleasantly surprised.”

Hulsing had considered selling the furniture to a liquidator — he figures he would have gotten about $500 per room — but opted to give it all away as a community service.

Hotel employees already are getting the first crack at the furniture, and college students are next on the list.

Nonprofit service agencies also are being contacted, but others interested in receiving some of the furniture are encouraged to call 841-7077 for more information.

The giveaway is the latest phase of ongoing renovations at the hotel, which has been a Holiday Inn since it opened 25 years ago. Hulsing Hotels bought the place from Lodgian Inc. and committed to make upgrades to keep it a Holiday Inn.

Hulsing Hotels also is looking into buying properties in Columbia, Mo., home to the University of Missouri; and Norman and Stillwater, Okla., homes to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State universities, respectively.

“We really like college towns,” said Sean Davis, vice president for Hulsing Hotels. “They really seem to be insulated from any downturns in the economy. When they’re great, they’re great. But when they’re down, they don’t bottom out as much.”

During the last year of Lodgian management, the Lawrence Holidome’s average occupancy rate was 38 percent, Davis said.

The rate has climbed a bit this year, he said, but still lingers below the market average of 60 percent to 70 percent.

Davis expects rates to rise again soon, with revamped heating, air-conditioning and ventilation systems in place and new carpeting and ceilings in the lobby.

Still under way is the consolidation of the hotel’s Heartlands Restaurant and Jay’s Sports Bar & Grille into a single, remodeled location that will operate as a Paddy O’Quigley’s — joining a chain of sports bars already popular in the Kansas City area.

The Lawrence location is expected to open by the end of the month.

Hulsing Hotels also is taking the franchise concept to Hulsing-owned Holiday Inns in Manhattan and adjacent to the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Mo.