Midway Planners – Hampton Inn to Be Renovated to 4 Points Sheraton

The location of the Hampton Inn in Midway is seemingly whimsical, nestled amongst self-storage units, low-cost eateries, auto body shops, nude dancing venues and a microbrewery. It’s set to become a Four Points Sheraton this fall.

 By Tony de Garate / Special to the OB Rag

Driving down Camino Del Rio West, the northern edge of the Midway community dominated by a hodge-podge of low-cost eateries, auto repair shops and adult entertainment venues, you may not even know the Hampton Inn, with its 208 rooms, meeting facilities and business center, is there.

That may change this fall when the Hampton emerges from a three-year renovation re-branded as a Four Points Sheraton.

Every room will be renovated, but the hotel will remain open because only 30 percent of the rooms will be removed from inventory at any time, said Victor Ravago, the hotel’s general manager and board member of the Midway Community Planning Group.

The project includes the addition of a bar and full-service restaurant. It’ll be the first cocktail service at the lodging since the 1980s, when it was known as the Lexington Hotel, Ravago said at the planning group’s monthly February meeting.

An exterior facelift was completed 1½ years ago. This phase is mostly interior, and also includes the addition of a gift shop.  The Sheraton’s website projects a Nov. 19 grand opening.

In other Midway news:

Midway Board Elections – March 18 at Continuing Ed Building

As many as 10, three-year positions could be available when annual elections take place this month. Balloting will be held March 18 from 2:30-3 p.m. in the Continuing Ed building where the board usually meets (see meeting information below). Candidates and voters must be at least 18 and live, own property or run a business in the Midway Planning Area.

Resident Joins Board – 1st Time in 3 Years

For the first time in three years, a resident has joined the board. Randall LaRocco, a father of three who lives on Wing Street, was appointed to one of a handful of vacancies on the 12-member board. His Midway roots run deep: he was raised in the community and even born in the now-shuttered Cabrillo Hospital.

“I’ve been looking for ways to serve in the community. Growing up in this area, it’s really important to me for my three kids,” he said.

LaRocco may be also be the first Midway homeowner on the board in more than a decade, Board Chair Melanie Nickel said.

AT&T Antennas Need Upgrade

If your wireless carrier is AT&T and you like your service, thank the San Diego Sports Arena, known officially as the Valley View Casino Center. You can’t see them, but there are antennas nudged in between the “fins” of the building’s outer husk. It’s time to upgrade the remote radios contained therein, said Tim Henion of Depratti Inc. Such proposals require an advisory vote from the local planning board, and the MCPG obliged with a unanimous approval.

Puck-Mania Hits the Midway

Board members are feeling the fever of puck-mania. There’s been no hockey at the Sports Arena since 2006, but that changes this fall for the inaugural season of the San Diego Gulls in the American Hockey League Pacific Division. Board Vice Chair Kurt Sullivan said he appreciates hockey’s positive economic impact during the Gulls’ heyday. “I remember when businesses and restaurants were maxed out. I think it revitalizes the area on those 32 to 40 nights a year,” he said. Hockey and the arena are a good match, Nickel said. “It’s the kind of thing that facility is set up to do. It’ll be nice to see it not sitting there empty,” she said.

The Midway Community Planning Group represents the Midway area and Pacific Highway Corridor and meets every third Wednesday of the month. The next meeting is March 18 at 3 p.m. in Room 208 of the West City Campus of San Diego Community College, Continuing Education, 3249 Fordham St.