The first hotel to locate in the heart of Cullman since well before the start of the 21st Century officially broke ground on Wednesday, welcoming the official construction start of Cobblestone Hotel & Suites near Heritage Park.

Thanks to rainy weather, officials from the Wisconsin-based Cobblestone Hotels group joined local leaders indoors at Cullman’s City Hall to unveil the symbolic shovel for the event. Site work for the 63-room hotel, though, already has begun off Main Avenue SW in Cullman, with the project expected to finish late next year.

The new indoor-access hotel — the chain’s first in Alabama — will also feature an on-site restaurant under the associated Wissota Chophouse brand. Together, the hotel and restaurant are aimed at serving what company president of development Jeremy Griesbach framed as “Cullman proper” — a centralized area more accessible to present and future amenities than existing local lodgings, which lie nearer the city’s hectic edges.

“It really is almost two different cities, if you look at it,” said Griesbach in outlining the company’s initial market research into locating in Cullman; research that persuaded its leaders Cullman was primed to host its first modern-day hotel within easy distance of restaurants, parks, and event venues. “Cullman is definitely the perfect town. I think it’ll be a great showpiece.”

The new hotel will lie directly across Main Avenue from Woodland Haus Assisted Living near its intersection with Olive Street, only a few hundred yards south of WildWater Park, The Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center, and the forthcoming new civic complex. Split among brands that include the Centerstone, Key West, Boarders, and Cobblestone line of hotels, motels, and resorts, the Cullman location will add to the company’s current portfolio of 165 properties across 29 U.S. states.

Cullman Economic Development Agency director Dale Greer said the hotel represents an $8.8 million capital investment in the area, and is expected to create 22 new jobs upon its opening.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) has committed $150,000 to assist in funding a new turn lane and road improvements along Main Avenue to service the hotel. The project taps the Opportunity Zone program created by Congress via the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, offering capital gains reinvestment incentives to developers who elect to invest in qualifying Census-defined areas.