By Seth Daniel
Mayor Carlo DeMaria presented a Singer sewing machine to the staff of the new enVision Hotel on the Parkway, a nod to the restored and repurposed building’s history as a former shoe factory. Large crowds of residents, elected officials and company officials gathered Monday morning, April 10, to celebrate the official grand opening of the first hotel in Everett to open in more than 70 years.
If the new enVision Hotel were anymore Everett, it would be wearing a State Championship football jacket.
The owners of Global Vision Hotels unveiled the old rehabilitated, shoe factory on the Parkway in grand fashion Monday morning, noting the nods and connections to Everett throughout the hotel in a way rarely seen in the lodging industry.
The ceremony marked the first full-service hotel to open up in Everett for more than 70 years, perhaps longer. It was a milestone that those in the company and Mayor Carlo DeMaria enjoyed noting.
“This is exactly what we wanted to see in Everett for so many years and now here it is, it has come to fruition, and I couldn’t be happier,” said Mayor DeMaria. “There are a lot of residents here today and they chose to stick with the City all these years. It’s because of you that this hotel has come here and chosen to invest so much money into our city.”
Global Vision President Gautam Sharma said the hotel was four years in the making, and he thanked the City for their extreme cooperation and the former property owner, Ed Swansburg, for introducing him to Everett and the Parkway area.
“Everett is a new destination,” he said.
New enVision General Manager Dana Depelteau said Global Vision fits the culture of Everett, and they are happy to be the first hotel in the city.
“enVision Hotel is a great company and I want you to come see us,” he said. “The City of Everett has been great to work with. The mayor and staff at City Hall were great.”
From the Chamber, President David LaRovere recalled the Gold’s Gym that used to occupy the top two floors of the building, and said the hotel now occupying that space shows how the City is growing.
“Everett doesn’t need another gym,” he said. “Everett needs a hotel, a hotel with a function room. It’s going to be a long time before we have to go out of town for an Everett function – whether it’s the Chamber, the Kiwanis or the E-Club. We’re going to have those events in the City of Everett now.”
Sen. Sal DiDomenico said one of the main reasons momentum is building is because the City and the politicians all work well together.
“We are known for good cooperation in Everett,” he said. “We all work with each other. We work well together. Many communities cannot say that. They see the people in our community and the energy we have and places like enVision want to be part of that.”
DiDomenico and State Rep. Joe McGonagle said they liked the fact that the hotel had incorporated so much Everett history into the property – something that Global Vision strives to do in all of their properties.
And that was certainly the case.
The walls of the guest rooms are wallpapered with historic maps of the City, while sewing machines hearkening back to the building’s industrial past stand stylishly on the walls of the foyer as decoration.
There are local, historic photos and even the function room is named after a former Everett mayor who made his fortune in manufacturing shoes, that being Herbert P. Wasgutt.
“Mayor DeMaria has always talked about a hotel being located in Everett,” said DiDomenico. “Congratulations, Mr. Mayor. Your vision for that has come true.”