It's bigger in person.

UPDATED July 2, 2013: Tuesday’s sheriff’s sale of the Ramada Convention Center was pretty anticlimactic: After a low-key auction in front of a curious crowd at the Eau Claire County Courthouse, the current owners bought the hotel … again. Presumably, that means downtown’s financially troubled   hotel (and the attached conference center) will stay open for the time being.

The owners (Amarjit, Surinder, and Kanwal Singh) and the financing company that had foreclosed on them last year (Dougherty Funding LLC) were the only bidders, and the Singhs had the winning bid of $1.41 million. That’s a bit less than the $1.66 million the owners owed Dougherty Funding as of last week. After the 11am auction, the buyers and their attorney rushed off, refusing to answer questions from reporters – or even to identify themselves. Only after they paid the necessary 10 percent down payment to the Clerk of Courts office was it clear who they were: The money came from Minneapolis-based Singh Brothers Properties Inc.

Under the name SB Hotel Management Inc., the Singhs have owned the hotel since 2004. That company filed for bankruptcy in March, and according to the Leader-Telegram the hotel is now being operated by a court-appointed receiver, S&L Hospitality of Verona. (That explains why the Taste of India restaurant in the hotel was shut down in May.) In addition to its financial woes, the hotel has had a host of maintenance problems, including “a leaky roof and basement, outdated heating and cooling system, and cracks in the brick façade,” the Leader-Telegram reported recently.

And that’s not all the owners have to overcome: According to the L-T, while the building still carries a Ramada sign, the Ramada chain itself has severed ties with the hotel. (You can’t even make reservations through the Ramada website anymore.) Considering the financial, physical, and marketing problems, winning the auction may only have bought the hotel owners some time.

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Downtown Eau Claire’s been going through some huge changes lately, and so has it’s only hotel –  the Ramada Convention Center. According to the Leader-Telegram, the facility located on Barstow St., attached to the parking garage, is scheduled for a foreclosure sale (auction) today at the Eau Claire County Courthouse.

The convention center has seen much better days. The building has had many code problems such as a leaky roof and basement and is undergoing some fixes to hopefully will bring it back up to par. The most critical health and safety issue is the backup generator.

If the current owner of the convention center wants to prevent the auction, they will have to fork over an outstanding amount of $1.66 million to pay off their debts. The owners have also been behind on taxes and utility bills for the city.

It doesn’t look like the owners will be getting their hotel back, so let’s hope downtown comes through this extra bit of change and the new owners create a good place for visitors to stay in the heart of the city.