MORGAN CITY, La. — Construction on the new Holiday Inn Express in Morgan City is expected to be finished by the end of August according to the contractor for the project.

Work is being done by Lincoln Builders of Ruston to erect the structural steel for the three-story building, said Thomas McQuillin, job superintendent for Lincoln Builders.

They are about 75 percent finished with that work up to the second floor of the building, he said. The building project cost is $7.2 million.

The hotel will have 88 rooms and an indoor pool and sauna, McQuillin said.

“We welcome all hotels, anybody in tourism into the community,” said Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau executive director Carrie Stansbury.

There are more than 1,300 hotel rooms and about 14 hotel properties right now in the parish including the Best Western Inn & Suites in Franklin, Best Western Inn & Suites in Morgan City, Comfort Inn & Suites in Morgan City, Quality Inn in Franklin, Days Inn in Morgan City, Holiday Inn in Morgan City, LaQuinta Inn in Morgan City, Plantation Inn in Bayou Vista, Hampton Inn in Morgan City, Sleep Inn in Bayou Vista, Treasure Bayou Hotel in Baldwin, Amelia Extended Stay, Cypress Bayou Casino in Charenton, and Twin City Motel in Morgan City, which is included among the hotels and inns because of its number of rooms, she said. The area also has a few other motels, she added.

Business at Hampton Inn & Suites in Morgan City will probably be affected a little by the Holiday Inn Express coming to the city, said Bob Harrison, general manager for the Hampton Inn & Suites in Morgan City. “I think it will affect some other places a little more because of the name brand,” Harrison said.

The addition of another hotel could potentially lower the average daily rate of hotel rooms in the area, Stansbury said.

“It adds more inventory to the community,” Stansbury said. “You may not necessarily have more people coming in. They just have more choices to choose from, and then properties are sort of forced to lower their rate.”