The executive director of the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership says she’s hopeful a new buyer can be found soon for the historic Retlaw Hotel. As WFDL news was first to report the hotel closed down last week after several years of financial difficulty. Downtown Partnership director, Amy Hansen, says the community could see this coming. She says the writing was on the wall. “We had an owner for the past five years that had unrealistic expectations for the selling price,” Hansen told WFDL news. “They always thought they could turn the hotel around, make it financially viable. It never panned out.” Hansen says now she sees hope that the hotel can finally be sold to someone who can renovate, operate and manage it successfully. Hansen says she hopes whoever ends up buying the building keeps it as a hotel. “The hotel brings that extra vitality of having the meeting space, the tourism traffic, the people that are exploring the downtown.”
