Sign changed to say hotel will open in fall

A third anticipated opening date for the Holiday Inn Express in Maricopa is now posted on the sign along John Wayne Parkway.

Last summer, the sign said the hotel would open in fall 2011. When fall arrived, the sign was changed to read spring 2012. Now the sign says fall 2012.

The sign itself appears to be the same, but white strips of vinyl or plastic with new dates appear to be taped over the previous dates.

The much-anticipated hotel project was first announced in February 2010 by Mayor Anthony Smith during his state of the city address. At that time, developer Larry Miller of Matrixx Management had a November 2010 completion date set, but in January 2011 said he had hit several road blocks when trying to get approval from the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Miller did not respond to a voice mail left Monday for comment.

At a regular council meeting in December in which Miller addressed the council, Smith, Vice Mayor Ed Farrell and Alan Marchione expressed their frustration with the delays.

Miller said once he received final approval from ADOT on accessing the site, construction could begin.