LUBBOCK, TX-Work has begun on a $47-million addition for there-gentrification of Overton Park. The long-awaited project,ticketed to deliver in 18 months, will add 304 hotel rooms and a45,000-sf conference center to the city.

The Overton Hotel and Conference Center is part of an overallattempt to re-gentrify Overton Park, once filled with substandardhousing and dilapidated businesses. The hotel and conference centerwill be situated between Mac Davis Lane and Avenue X.

“Overton Park is in an area that was very depressed and blightedfor many years. It's currently going through an urbanrevitalization, which has involved ripping down dilapidatedstructures and removing the crime element in the area,” says DavidWelber, project executive for Turner Construction Co. TheDallas-based Turner and Lee Lewis Construction of Lubbock are thegeneral contractors and design builders for the hotel andconference center.