Lack of rooms makes graduation weekend difficult for Athens

by Sara Dobie
For The Post

Athens will be bursting with people for the Ohio University graduation ceremonies this June, and most hotels lack the room necessary for all these weekend arrivals.

"We always get full for graduation," said Theresa Showalter, front desk manager at Athens' Days Inn, 330 Columbus Road. "We've had to send them to Marietta and Nelsonville."

For what Showalter calls the busiest time of year - which will fall on June 8 to 9 this year - the Days Inn takes reservations 11 months in advance.

Other hotels also start booking for graduation early. Budget Host Coach Inn, 100 Albany Road, opens up reservations in October for the coming year, and they are full. The Ohio University Inn, 331 Richland Ave., which starts taking reservations six months in advance, is also full.

One of Athens' new hotels, the Super 8 Motel, 13725 US. Rt. 50, also is full. It began taking reservations a couple of months ago.

"The biggest problem is accommodation wise," said Larry Payne, president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. "There are not enough rooms for people coming in for graduation. Parents are disappointed. They have to stay somewhere else."

Graduation is not the only weekend that hotels in Athens have problems, said Page Norsworthy, assistant general manager of the OU Inn. Special weekends at OU, including parents' and Homecoming weekends, cause similar outcomes.

A possible solution to the problem is in the early stages of becoming reality. There is talk about opening another hotel within the next couple of years, Payne said.

"Hopefully, the situation will get better," he said. "There are only so many rooms. On big weekends, we could fill 3,000 rooms, but we only have 1,000."

The hotel problem is not the only trouble in Athens over graduation weekend. There has been some criticism in the past regarding trash, Payne said.

"The downside is all the cleanup we have to do after people move out," said Athens Mayor Ric Abel. "How do you make the town look good? We only have so many trucks."

For graduation weekend, the city does bring in more police officers to patrol traffic. The town also opens the fairground for parking without charge. A lot of traffic is generated by the ceremonies, Abel said.