Feb. 19, 2004 - EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Plans for a hotel and conference center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's University Park were revealed during a meeting Wednesday of the Madison County Board. 

Developer William L. Shaw of Edwardsville hopes to complete the 52-room hotel and 3,300-square-foot conference center this year, according to plans which have been submitted to county officials. The project would cost about $6 million. 

Plans for a second phase of the hotel would add another 52 rooms. 

The building would have a Frank Lloyd Wright design. The architects include the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. 

The County Board voted to extend an existing Enterprise Zone near the site another 9.9 acres to tentatively include the hotel and conference center. If the development is in the Enterprise Zone, its property tax would be abated for seven years, then gradually restored during the next three years. 

However, the extension of the Enterprise Zone also will require approval from the cities of Pontoon Beach and Edwardsville and the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. 

County Board member Harry Thurau questioned the need for the extension, but Chairman Alan Dunstan said Enterprise Zones are necessary to compete for developments. 

"It's going to be an asset to SIU, to Edwardsville and to Madison County," Dunstan said. 

Shaw was designated three years ago by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation as its exclusive licensee for hospitality properties. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. 

The conference center would include a 104-person theater-style room, a 64-person room, a 58-person room, a great room with fireplaces, a kitchen, a dining area and a museum featuring Frank Lloyd Wright displays. 

The development would be called the Spring Green Lodge and Conference Center. 

SIUE is supporting the project and joined in the developer's request for the Enterprise Zone extension. The university would lease the land to Shaw. 

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(c) 2004, Belleville News-Democrat, Ill. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.