Rooms available tourney week Spectators boost Bangor economy

BANGOR – Thousands of basketball fans will motor into town this weekend for the annual Maine Principals’ Association Invitational High School Basketball Tournament at the Bangor Auditorium, but they won’t have to worry about finding a place to stay.

There is no shortage of hotel rooms in the city, according to Tom Palmer, general manager of the Black Bear Inn at 4 Godfrey Blvd. in Orono and the Fireside Inn and Suites at 570 Main St. in Bangor. In 2006, two hotels across the street from the auditorium, the Holiday Inn and the Main Street Inn, were demolished. Three new hotels remain under construction in the city.

Palmer is also a member of the board of the Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“A shortage of rooms was last year’s big worry and there were rooms last year. I don’t expect it to be a problem this year,” Palmer said Friday. He said there are a few nights where space is limited at both of his hotels, but rooms are available throughout the week.

At the Fairfield Inn by Marriott at 300 Odlin Road in Bangor, space is limited this weekend and throughout next week.

“We have availability this weekend, but I’m sure that we’ll sell out tonight and tomorrow night,” Cassie Dube, Fairfield Inn’s office manager, said Friday.

Last year, over the course of the nine-day tournament, about 45,000 spectators filled the Bangor Auditorium, according to Mike Dyer, director of the auditorium.

Both Dyer and Palmer noted the economic impact of the tournament. Ticket sale proceeds go to the Maine Principals’ Association, but the auditorium receives a 10 percent cut. The food and beverage stand will be busier than ever in the coming week, Dyer said.

The tournament “is such a big important economic indicator during the winter,” Palmer said. “The mall will be packed and it wasn’t packed a week ago.”