Hospitality will remain at a downtown hotel, but its new owners will convert the 208-room lodge into an assisted-living facility for senior citizens.

By May, the Fort Wayne Hotel and Conference Center, formerly the Holiday Inn, will become the Lamplight Inn of Fort Wayne, officials with Lamplight Communities confirmed Tuesday.

The acquisition and upgrades will represent a $4 million investment.

Severine Petras, president and CEO of Lamplight, based in Toronto, Ohio, said she has a purchase agreement with BRT Realty Trust and is busy readying the establishment, which has remained open during financial turmoil.

Petras hopes to make renovations and fill the facility with about 170 residents.

Most residents will be 75 or older. They would pay $2,700 a month for room, board and assistance at the center at 300 E. Washington Blvd. Petras expects to close the deal by month’s end.

The hotel’s 40 employees have the opportunity to apply with Lamplight, but in most cases must have a care-center background. Petras expects to hire 50 to 60 job-seekers, including nurses, aides and administrative employees. To apply, go to www.lamplightcommunities.com.

Petras wants to make it clear that Lamplight “is not a nursing home.”

“We don’t have ventilators and intravenous equipment here,” she said. “These are people who just need help getting out of bed and things like that.”

Transportation, assistance with medicine and providing social activities are among the services that will be provided. A central dining area, deli, café and other additions also are planned, Petras said.

Karl Bandemer, senior development officer for the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, applauds the project.

“I had heard something like this was going to take place, so I think it’s great,” he said. “It’s a good reuse for a building like that. We didn’t want to see it standing there vacant or torn down.”

The hotel was sold at a sheriff’s sale in September to TRB Fort Wayne Inn after Fort Wayne Hospitality defaulted on $3.7 million borrowed from New York-based BRT Realty Trust.

Bandemer said with competition heating up among downtown hotels, a change at the Fort Wayne Hotel is wise.

“It is kind of off the beaten path,” he said.

The Courtyard by Marriott, part of the Harrison Square development, is scheduled to open in late summer with 250 rooms and 6,600 square feet of meeting space.

The downtown Hilton Fort Wayne at Grand Wayne Center offers 246 rooms and more than 30,000 square feet of gathering space.

Petras is looking ahead.

“We have to get our residential care license, and we will be changing the building’s color outside to something more neutral that blends in with the area,” she said, referring to the hotel’s present bright hue.

“We just thought this was an ideal site in the revitalization of downtown.”

pwyche@jg.net