It is more of a title than it is a nickname, and that is because Chris Roark has been an employee of the McLure House in downtown Wheeling since 2001.
Now, there was a hiatus for about a year when Roark accepted a position at Teletech, a business information processing firm in Moundsville that closed in September 2013. But the St. Clairsville resident quickly returned to the historic hotel and now serves as the Front Officer Manager for the McLure’s new owner, Roxby Development.
“Chris is ‘Mr. McLure’ because he knows everything about this hotel,” insisted Chelsey Demussi, assistant general manager for the McLure. “And it seems like he knows everyone who walks in and out of our doors because he’s just that friendly to everyone, and he knows the members of our staff very, very well. He’s been a plethora of knowledge for us since we started here a couple of months ago.
“He also is the epitome of hospitable, too; he really is,” she continued. “As the improvements to the hotel have taken place, he’s been very helpful because of his knowledge of the property, and you can just tell that he loves what he has been seeing as far as the upgrades. The same can be said for all of our staff. They want to be a part of it because they have seen the increase in the number of guests we have had since the purchase of the property.”
Finding His Home
Roark did not have roots in the Upper Ohio Valley when he moved here in 2001 from Colorado, but he wasted little time finding employment. He put his resume together, printed a few of them, and hit the streets.
But he needed to make only a single stop.
“When I first moved here, I had no idea where I was going to work, but a relative at the time worked across the street from the hotel, and she knew they were hiring,” Roark remembered. So, I got my resume together and printed it six times, but when I came here, I was hired on the spot so I didn’t need those other five copies.
“That was three owners ago,” he recalled. “When I first started here at the McLure, management was focused on attracting the business community. From there, it switched over to a family atmosphere within a few years when we had a lot of men from the gas and oil industries staying here, too. It was around that time when I left the hotel to work at TeleTech in Moundsville, but I came back in about a year later because that company suddenly closed on us.”
Roark was quickly welcomed back to the hotel’s front desk.
“Something just drew me back here,” Roark said. “I love this hotel, and I love what I get to do here. I am hopeful the city’s efforts to get more businesses to the downtown area are successful because that will only help the hotel gain even more business than what has been added in the past two months.
“The McLure’s new ownership has accomplished a lot of positives since taking over, and they have added a lot of jobs and our occupancy has improved by probably double so far,” he said. “The word is definitely out on the streets that a lot of good things are happening here now, and the painting of the hotel is just what most people see. There’s much more that has been taking place.”
A Hospitable Education
Several colleges and universities offer Hospitality degrees, but Roark went about his academia a little differently from most in the hotel business. Instead, he earned a diploma in Child Day Care and an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice.
To him, though, it makes perfect sense
“Well, if you really think about it, if you put my degrees together, my education is perfect for running a hotel,” Roark said. “I watch out for everyone here, and I make sure their needs are met, and that’s because we are a hotel, and we want more people to stay with us.
“The most important thing for our guests is that they feel comfortable here and be at ease,” he said. “If that’s the case in the future, we’ll be seeing even more people come to stay with us, and I know that’s the goal.”
Floor by floor, employees of Roxby Development are improving the hotel’s 173 rooms, and preparations are being made now to reopen the first-floor lounge and the street-level restaurant. Both amenities were shuttered several years by the most previous owner.
“I can say that there wasn’t a lot of money that was being put into the hotel,” Roark reported. “Just enough was done to keep it alive, and that was about it, but now it’s a whole new ballgame, and it’s exciting for everyone who works here. The overall mood of the employees has changed for the better; that’s for sure.
“The new owners are making everything better on the outside and on the inside, and that’s why I believe this hotel will be a star again,” he said with a smile. “It’s already headed in that direction, and I really can’t wait to see what it becomes now.”
