New plans have been announced in the revitalization of the Berlin Mall.

The ongoing transformation of the mall and the 65-acres it sits on now include a five-story hotel and a restaurant.

“It’ll be a limited service kind of hotel that business travelers stay at, a national-flagged hotel that will have some amenities”, said Michael Rushmore, Marketing and Strategic Planning Director for the Berlin Mall.

Rushmore who is working with Heidenberg Properties, says these plans are the next step in creating a “town-center”.

“Berlin is a town that historically did not really have a town center it has no post office, no library, and no zip code it has always looked at Montpelier or Barre for a lot of those things”

 The mall has struggled over the years, many of the storefronts are empty.

Rushmore says creating a hub around it would benefit not only the mall but the entire community.

“With the growth of Berlin and there are thousands of people are employed in Berlin, this is a major employment center within a couple miles where we stand”

 Mall goers who local 22/44 spoke with say they welcome any idea that would bring life back to the mall.

Rushmore says these types of transformations are happening across the country.

“Malls are having to change to a new retail environment and many of them are doing that by becoming more multi-purposed, that is our objective here.

The owners are currently preparing for the approval process, a conceptual site plan is expected to be complete in the next few weeks.