The Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge delivered the good news to the St. George's Chamber of Commerce branch at its annual general meeting on Thursday night.

If the deal goes through, he will urge the new owners to open a night club while they ready the St. George's property for occupancy.

He was anxious for as much entertainment as possible in St. George's with the impending arrival of the East End cruise ship.

Mr. Woolridge did not want to disclose the name of the company.

But he revealed it was a small "successful'' company which owned a couple of hotels in New England.

He had stayed at one of the hotels -- a 500-room property which was "very well run with a nicely kept physical plant and good service''.

Representatives of the company had been on the Island to view the property earlier this year and were "keenly interested'', he said.

"They are currently trying to put the financing together,'' he said.

"I am hopeful the deal will go through -- I hope to get something more concrete next week when they return.'' Lack of financing was the reason the property had not been sold to other groups who had expressed interest in buying it.

Mr. Woolridge said he wanted the hotel opened as soon as possible for the good of tourism and to provide a source of entertainment for the estimated 2,400 cruise ship passengers expected in the Old Town four days a week for the cruise season.

St. George's Mayor the Wor. Henry Hayward did not know the name of the hotel company.

But he said he would welcome virtually any company that wanted to re-open the hotel.

The hotel has been closed for nearly six years since Club Med pulled out.

Mr. Woolridge could not say what Club Med was asking for the property, but he believed it would probably cost $3 million to $4 million to "get it back in shape''.