A landmark hotel in the town of Salina for the past half century, Ramada Syracuse at 1305 Buckley Road, is closing for good on Sept. 7.

The entire 150-room hotel will be razed — that is, everything except the indoor swimming pool.

A Hampton Inn will be built on the same spot, and guests will still be able to take a quick dip.

Anthony Mangano will oversee the new hotel project. Mangano is president and majority shareholder of Syramada Hotel Corporation in Syracuse, which owns and operates the Ramada Inn Syracuse.

Emmi/Mangano enterprises

The Emmi/Mangano family businesses began in the 1940s when Antonio Emmi purchased a 30-acre farm where he grew corn, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and blueberries. The produce was sold to local grocery stores and directly to customers at the family’s roadside stand, the Emmi Farm Market at 1401 Buckley.

According to the U.S. Small Business Association, the Emmi & Sons, Inc. farm remains active today under the direction of Tony Emmi (third generation). The fourth-generation Emmi and Mangano family members spend their summer vacations working at the farm stand in the family tradition.

Third-generation family members Carmen Emmi, Jr., and Anthony Mangano and their cousins spent their childhoods the same way and point to the hard work they did at their farm as the foundation for their adult entrepreneurship.

When they purchased the Liverpool-based Ramada hotel in 1982, and the Emmi/Mangano partnership began a long and varied expansion into the hotel industry. They continued acquiring and building properties over the next two decades.

Hands-on management

In 2005, Mangano joined the faculty of Syracuse University College of Human Ecology as adjunct professor. He also helped establish the Syracuse University Hospitality and Management Association.

By 2007, the family members owned five hotels in Syracuse and Watertown, with brands such as Super 8, Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton, and employed up to 75 seasonal staff on the farm and 225 permanent staff at the hotels.

In 2010, the Emmi and Mangano family partnership purchased its sixth hotel, an aging Days Inn property in Watertown. With the help of an SBA 504 loan from Empire State Certified Development Corporation and Watertown Savings Bank, the hotel underwent a $2 million renovation.

Always hands-on managers, Emmi and Mangano personally helped with the demolition of all 135 guest rooms and all public areas. “The hotel was gutted down to the studs and rebuilt,” Anthony observed. Months of hard work produced a modern Comfort Inn & Suites that competes in the upper tier of the hotel market in the Watertown area.

In 2011 the SBA awarded the partnership with an Excellence in Small Business Award.

Mangano and his family now own four hotels near the Seventh North Street exit off Interstate 81. He is a partner in Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn and Super 8 Motel, all in Liverpool, and the Hampton Inn, Watertown. The Hampton Inn already located at 417 Seventh North Street is also expected to change its name so as not to be confused with the Hampton property opening early next year at 1305 Buckley Road

Bongos and barbecue

They’ll make music on guitars and keyboards and grill burgers and dogs outside the Family Music Center, at 914 Old Liverpool Road, from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22.

Family Music owners Phil and Gena de Anguera hope for a warm sunny day for their jam session barbecue “on the tarmac.” They suggest musicians and audience members bring folding chairs, umbrellas and a dish to pass; familymusiccenter.biz; 457-7375

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