Here Comes CoCo Key

Maybe I've just been too focused on it, maybe I pay too much attention to these things, maybe it's because it's everywhere, but it seems like CoCo Key is going to be a major deal in the region.

In the last month or so, they've been everywhere. They were at the mall earlier this month, they were in Rutland last week, and CoCo was nesting in the Upper Common last weekend. Everywhere you turn around, CoCo Key is there. And whatever they're doing, it's working. Everyone knows about it, and everyone is ready for it. I took a bunch of Prides to a Sterling school in October, and every fourth-grader in the room knew exactly what CoCo Key was all about. And their visibility has only increased since then.

CoCo Key is ready to open Dec. 17. There's a VIP event the day before (featuring Gervais Peterson. You know. From the first "Survivor." Or maybe you don't). If you're up at the hotel, it looks pretty darn cool from the outside. Where the heck was this 30 years ago?

Without a doubt, expect to hear a lot of CoCo Key news locally over the next month or so. The question, however, is in the long term. It doesn't seem like the kind of company that would target an iffy area. It certainly is operating like the kind of company that knows what's doing (based on its massive, professional PR effort and its timeliness in construction). But will it thrive in Fitchburg? Will it put Fitchburg on the map? Will it lead to more business in that neck of the woods? Will they offer residents annual passes? (The answer from what I can tell is no, but it's the question I get first and repeatedly.)

Anyway, it's worth noting that CoCo Key comes barreling into town in two weeks. You won't be able to hide from it for too much longer.