New road could be path to business growth
By Michael Johnson, Editor
In just the past year, Washburn has been a site of interest by several hotel developers. The Washburn Area Economic Development Association has been contacted by those groups and heard their interest, but with limited commercial lots available, little more can happen. The options could be expanding soon. Washburn resident John Renner is seeking approval to put in a frontage road on his property along US Hwy 83 south of Captain’s Cabin. If he builds it, he believes the businesses will come. While he knows of interested businesses, he and WAEDA board members hope a hotel could find a spot there, too. Cobblestone Inn, AmericInn and most recently, an unnamed hotel group has expressed interest. One difference of this most recent hotel is that they are not requesting local investors, something that caught the interest of WAEDA board members. The last inquiry from AmericInn has had no further updates.
