FORT WAYNE, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- The long awaited groundbreaking for the new Harrison Square hotel is being billed as a way to boost employment and new convention business for downtown Fort Wayne.

It’s a case of “better late than never” for Harrison Square, which features a brand new baseball stadium and public parking garage, but still needs a Courtyard by Marriott Hotel and new condominiums to materialize before the development is fully complete.

For several months city officials didn't know for sure that the new hotel would ever get built.

Representatives from the developer White Lodging Services, joined city leaders and banking officials on Monday in commemorating the official start of the project.

The hotel will have 250 rooms, meeting space, and a Champions Sports Bar.

One of the biggest beneficiaries will be the Grand Wayne Center, hungry for more downtown hotel space to attract bigger events.

Deno Yiankes/White Lodging Services: " We're going to have over 500 rooms now connected to the convention center and when you start talking to meeting planners, you immediately get their attention now. That's a magical threshold that the city didn't offer before, but as a result of this, they will be able to offer going forward."

Tom Didier/(R) Fort Wayne Council 3rd District: " There's a lot of people looking for work right now. I'm just really happy about it, really excited. I can't believe how fortunate we are to get this Courtyard by Marriott, it's going to be great for Fort Wayne."

Deno Yiankes says the hotel will create up to 120 permanent jobs.

About 50 to 75 people are working on site during the construction itself, and Yiankes expects more than 50 percent of those jobs will go to local contractors and workers, which had been a point of contention.

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