Patel purchases 1st Interstate Inn

Hemal Patel, new owner of the 1st Interstate motel, stands with his wife, Jagu, and one of his sons, 7-year-old Henil Patel. They also have an 18-month son, Yug Patel. Hemal Patel said his parents, Bob and Mira, who own the Carthage (Mo.) Inn, will run the 1st Interstate. Ruth Campbell/Tribune

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A local hotel owner, Hemal Patel, recently purchased 1st Interstate Inn. The property at 2222 S. Main, Fort Scott, had been foreclosed on by Community National Bank in Iola, Patel said. The purchase price was $450,000. 1st Interstate has 28 interior rooms. Patel said he plans to improve the hotel's beds, TVs and carpet and install electric room locks. If the name is changed in the next six months, it will likely be to another franchise, he said.

He said 1st Interstate has good rates and a good location -- "maybe the best location in town. Everything is close by." Patel is also the proprietor of the Red Ram Motel, 701 N. National Ave., an establishment he's owned for two and a half years. The Red Ram has 22 exterior rooms, and he has made improvements to it as well. It now sports a log cabin-like exterior, improved windows, electric locks, new carpet and wireless Internet. The clientele has changed as well. He now gets many hunters and anglers renting rooms on weekends.