Inn at Penn opens for business

Amidst sunshine, champagne, well-dressed guests and more than a dozen yelling protesters, University and city officials Wednesday marked the opening of the Inn at Penn, the newest addition to Sansom Common. Speakers such as University President Judith Rodin, City Council member Jannie Blackwell and Circuit Court Judge Marjorie Rendell struggled to speak above the protesters from the union representing former employees of the Faculty Club, who lost their jobs when the facility was outsourced to the Inn at Penn. Protesters held signs reading "Shame on U of P" and used megaphones to try to disrupt the ceremony. During her speech, Rodin said that the 190,000-square foot facility will attract not only parents and tourists, but also Commencement speakers, international government leaders and nationally renowned performers. Her only regret about the 264-room Inn, which is already booked for this weekend, is that "we may have built it too small," Rodin said. Rendell, a University Trustee and the wife of Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, agreed with Rodin, saying that she believes the addition of the Inn to Sansom Common "will ensure that University City is in and of itself a tourist destination." She added that the University's efforts in projects like Sansom Common are fulfilling two of her husband's goals for the city -- to improve the quality of life and increase economic development. Blackwell said that with each step forward the University takes, the whole community advances. In particular, she said, the new hotel and its Sansom Common neighbors will bring a large number of jobs to the community. "When it comes to jobs, we always say West Philadelphians first," she said to both the guests and the protesters, who stopped demonstrating while she spoke. After the speakers cut the ribbon, signalling the official opening of the Inn, all of the guests were invited into the hotel for a reception and tours of the facility, which Executive Vice President John Fry said was unlike any other hotel in West Philadelphia. Each room features high-tech capabilities that include an ethernet connection, a 25-inch television, two phone lines and a WebTV box. Though Doubletree Hotels Corp., which manages the Inn at Penn, promised to hire 70 percent of the Faculty Club workers who reapplied for employment at the Inn at Penn, it has since fallen well short of that goal. But despite the protesters, Rodin said she was pleased with the event. "I am definitely concerned when an event planned to celebrate [University achievements] is disrupted," Rodin said in an interview following the event, "but I think we had a great deal to celebrate and we are extremely proud." Rodin said she was particularly pleased with the number of women, minorities and West Philadelphia residents hired at the Inn at Penn and for the entire Sansom Common construction process.