HIGHLIGHTS

• Called The Lantern, the hotel carries a distinct social mission: providing meaningful career pathways for individuals with disabilities.
• The hotel project brings together Raines, a leading hospitality management, development and investment organization, with The Warren Norman Company, Noble Food and Pursuits, and Comporium. The group is working now to renovate the Guardian Building on Main Street in order to pair boutique-comfort accommodations for its 56 guest rooms with a fine dining restaurant.

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - A new boutique hotel opening this fall in downtown Rock Hill will hire some WinthropLIFE program students among its employees.

Called The Lantern, the hotel carries a distinct social mission: providing meaningful career pathways for individuals with disabilities. Winthrop University is a natural fit because its LIFE program focuses on preparing such students for competitive employment and independent living. LIFE Director Ryan Morrison '13 said he is excited that students will have an option to work in the hotel industry and in food services.

The hotel project brings together Raines, a leading hospitality management, development and investment organization, with The Warren Norman Company, Noble Food and Pursuits, and Comporium. The group is working now to renovate the Guardian Building on Main Street in order to pair boutique-comfort accommodations for its 56 guest rooms with a fine dining restaurant.

Like the 59-key Lantern Hotel in Columbia, South Carolina, scheduled to open this month in that city's historic Central Firehouse, The Lantern Hotel Rock Hill will incorporate a new standard of inclusive hospitality. As in Columbia, the Rock Hill hotel will also build on the historic provenance of its site, emerging as an upscale, adaptive "return to use" of the Andrew Jackson Hotel.

Planned Amenities Include:

*56 Guest Rooms: Designed with unique boutique aesthetics.
*The Noble Restaurant & Bar: High-end culinary services curated by Noble Food and Pursuits.
*Exclusive Spaces: A private speakeasy, a private dining room and dedicated event spaces.
*Membership Program: A first-of-its-kind offering for the Rock Hill community.
Warren Norman, managing partner of the Warren Norman Company, said the hotel will bring to Rock Hill an experience never seen before. "Its unique architecture and design will lend itself perfectly to merging the past and future to create a community of places of gathering around extraordinary food and beverage service," Norman said.

His personal favorite part of the hotel and restaurant is the mission to employ people with disabilities. As many as a fourth of The Lantern employees may be individuals with disabilities.

The hospitality industry is a perfect opportunity to train and equip people with differing abilities to not only provide job opportunities, but to learn skills to apply to other job opportunities elsewhere. Morrison said the LIFE graduates, who come to Winthrop for two or four years and earn a certificate for completing classes and living in the residence halls, will undergo an apprenticeship to work at The Lantern.

"This will be a valued and wonderful piece of the LIFE program moving forward," Morrison said.

Rock Hill has long believed that strong communities are built when people of all abilities are part of the work, the workforce and the life of the city, said Beth Costner, dean of the Richard W. Riley College of Education, Sport and Human Sciences. "The Lantern Hotel brings that belief to life in a new and highly visible way," she said. "Through its partnership with WinthropLIFE, this project will open doors for individuals and families while strengthening the university and the community we are growing together."

From a special educator's perspective, what makes The Lantern so powerful is not just the jobs it creates, but the message it sends: that people with disabilities belong in visible, valued roles at the heart of our community, said Patricia Arter, chair of Winthrop's Department of Counseling, Leadership and Educational Studies and a special education professor.

"When students can train, work and grow in a setting like this, we move from accommodation to authentic inclusion," she said. "That has always been the mission of WinthropLIFE, and we are so excited that The Lantern is partnering with us to provide these amazing opportunities to our students and the community."

Visit the WinthropLIFE program website for more information on the program.

For additional information on this partnership, please contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at [email protected] or 803/323-2404.