Demolition of Hempfield's Ramada underway

Demolition of Hempfield’s Ramada by Wyndham Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center is underway, paving the way for construction of a new home improvement store.

According to Patrick Karnash, director of planning and zoning for the township, “demolition has started and is moving along quite quickly” on the 42-year-old hotel. Leveling of the Ramada, as well as the former Westmoreland Athletic Club that closed in 2015, will allow for construction of Menards, a Wisconsin-based home improvement store.

Karnash said there is not a set date for when construction could start, noting site improvements such as stormwater controls will occur prior to work on the structure.

Township supervisors in August made some of the final approvals for the project, which was first proposed in June. Initial plans show a 250,000-square-foot building — double the size of the nearby Lowe’s or Home Depot — of which about 50,000 square feet will be an outdoor lumber yard.

For many area residents, the hotel was a community staple, with many taking advantage of the ballroom — the largest between Pittsburgh and Seven Springs — for weddings, conventions and fundraisers, as well as the restaurant and club space that hosted many local musicians.

The Ramada had a storied history in the region, opening across Route 30 from Westmoreland Mall in 1978 as the Sheraton Inn, owned by the Greensburg-based Adam Eidemiller Inc. The hotel changed hands for the first time in 1999, when it was purchased by Crown American Hotels based in Johnstown, becoming Sheraton at Four Points.

After that, the facility had several different owners but was finally owned by a group from Los Angeles called Greensburg Hospitality.

While the facility continued to thrive on events and money brought in through food and beverage sales, those facets largely shuttered this spring as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the region, a factor that likely contributed to the demise of the hotel, which officially shuttered in October.

By November, piles of pots and pans, catering equipment and decorations filled the ballroom, ready for a Dec. 5 auction.

While several details about the project are not clear, Menards stores typically employee between 125 and 150 people, with more than 45,000 people working for the company that has more than 300 locations in 14 Midwestern states, according to its website.

While there are no stores in Pennsylvania, one is under construction in South Union Township, Fayette County.