The State Inn recently began undergoing renovations to become Hotel McCoy after its sale to developer Preface.

Preface Founder Bryan Coggins said through his many visits to Pullman, he noticed there were no “hyper-local” hotels focusing on the community and its members. 

“This is our second location,” he said. “We opened up a Hotel McCoy in Tucson, Arizona, near the University of Arizona and downtown Tucson. So, when this came up for sale, the opportunity to get involved with another Pac-12 University … was a pretty cool opportunity for us.”

The hotel will have a vintage theme centered around the year the inn was built, 1959. It is currently two weeks into a 4.5-month renovation process, Coggins said. 

There are going to be several unique aspects to the hotel. One is that it will feature local artists from the Palouse, he said. 

The hotel staff plans to name each of their 31 rooms after a local artist, Coggins said.

“The hotel is designed to be a showcase for young regional and local artists, and to allow them to get their name out and … for them to make money,” he said. “Everything goes to the artist.”

Selling art commission-free is a way to give back to the community, said Nicole Dahl, Hotel McCoy executive director.

“Our commission-free program means that [artists] set their price for their art,” she said. “We facilitate the sale and we give them the entire profit.”

Normally, galleries will take 20 to 60 percent of each sale as a fee for facilitation, Dahl said. 

The hotel staff plans to reach out to local artists of all demographics to get a feel for what will make the hotel feel connected to the community. She said the best way is through art.

“The entire concept was built on the foundation of rather than bringing [our] brand’s feeling, voice and message to a community,” she said. “Our plan would be to bring the community into our brand.” 

Other plans for the hotel include a tasting room and space to hold events such as birthday parties, meetings and small weddings, Dahl said. 

“We want to be the place where if you don’t have a spare room, that’s where you want to send someone when they come to visit you because it feels like Pullman. It’s going to be a central gathering place that feels like the community is welcome,” she said. 

The hotel staff is looking for local artists to feature throughout the building. All forms of art such as paintings, mosaics, murals, poetry and sculptures are wanted, Coggins said. 

Artists interested in showcasing their work at the hotel can email a link to their portfolio to [email protected]. The State Inn is located at 455 SE Paradise St.