Historic Nittany Lion Inn reopening after 16 months of renovations

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ) — A historic hotel in State College is preparing to open its doors once again after closing in 2020.

The Nittany Lion Inn closed to the public in 2020 when it was used for temporary student housing. After being purchased in 2021, the hotel had extensive renovations completed over the last 16 months and is finally preparing to re-open on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Over 90 years ago, the iconic Nittany Lion Inn was built on Penn State’s campus. The building has since gotten a complete makeover and now features 230 guest rooms.

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“We pretty much touched almost every inch of this building,” Scholar Hotel Group CEO Gary Brandeis said. “Both back to house and front of house. So all the mechanical systems, plumbing, electric, we’ve opened up the lobby, we’ve activated the courtyards that really weren’t activated before. We’ve created four food and beverage outlets. So the Nittany Lion Inn has a great coffee shop now. Never had one before.”

While there may be plenty of new spaces, keeping the history of the location alive is just as important.

“We have also retained the history of the building without taking away the classic parts of this building that people want to retain. So I think we did both,” Brandeis said.

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Although doors are not opened yet, many are already shocked of what has changed.

“We had brought some of the alumni in for an early tour, if you will, and there’s a lot of oohs and ahs and, you know, really just pride in craftsmanship,” Nittany Lion Inn General Manager Kurt Wiksten said.

Everyone in the building is eager to finally open its doors once again.

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