By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - A familiar downtown Niles landmark is getting a face lift.
As of Friday, the Four Flags Hotel, located at the corner of Fourth and Main streets in downtown Niles, will officially have new owners.
Sue and Anthony Sakara, her daughter and son-in-law, Danica and Brian Shier, and Sakara's parents, Lucille and Larry Louderback, have purchased the building.
Sakara said their hopes for the building is to establish more of a community center where more banquets and meetings can be held as they were in the past.
She added they want to keep the integrity and history of the building as they bring it up to the 21st century.
This weekend, the group has enlisted the help of the Niles Senior High School N-Club to help them clean out the lobby and basement areas of the building.
Sakara said the group will be meeting on Sunday and working from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. working to clean things up.
Currently there are community members who do live at the hotel and Sakara said they will still be able to do this.
In the future Sakara and her group will be working to fresh and refurbish many of the rooms in the hotel. They won't be remodeling but refurbishing to make things nicer, she said.
Refurbishing has already begun in the Daisy Mae gift shop and in the lobby area, Sakara said.
Lisa Croteau, program director of the Niles DDA-Main Street programs said the hotel has been for sale for at least five years.
The purchase and rehab of the building is a key component to Niles becoming all it can be, Croteau said.