The new Hampton Inn and Suites broke ground in Whitefish on Friday, kicking off a nearly year-long building process.

The new 76-room hotel will be located at 6340 U.S. 93 and is scheduled for completion by April 15, 2016, according to a press release from developer Larry Lambert.

“We’re looking forward to finally getting started,” Lambert said in a phone interview on Friday. “It’s going to be a great project for the community.”

At its highest point, the 20,030-square-foot hotel will be three stories tall, just over 41 feet high, resting on 5.7 acres behind the defunct Wendy’s restaurant, which will be torn down. The hotel will host 111 parking spaces.

The exterior design of the hotel is modeled after other elements from businesses in the Whitefish community, such as the slanted roofline of Sportsman & Ski Haus at Mountain Mall.

The hotel will employ roughly 20 people during peak seasons and fewer in the off months.

Amenities at the hotel will include a virtual golf room with a golf simulator for guests, an outside breakfast area to the north with a view of the mountains, pool, workout room and conference room.

According to Lambert, the developer and the general contractor, Swank Enterprises, will turn to local businesses whenever possible to complete the project.

“We want to hire as many local sub [contractors] as we can,” he said. “We had the ability to hire outside people, but a community like Whitefish has so much to offer, you really want to stay local.”

Hampton Inn is part of the Hilton Hotels Corporation, which owns, manages or franchises around 4,000 properties nationwide.

Reporter Brianna Loper may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at bloper@dailyinterlake.com.