OWENSBORO (AP)Owensboro’s largest hotel abruptly shut down and its guests were scrambling to find lodging, leaving many in the western Kentucky city worried about the future.

From where to hold large weddings to where to house thousands of softball players scheduled to come for a tournament, the question on everyone’s mind was how the city could soften the economic blow caused by the weekend closure of the 550-room Executive Inn Rivermont.

The 31-year-old hotel, once western Kentucky’s largest, was sold to Marshall Investments of Minneapolis in a deal completed Monday.

“It’s a sad day, isn’t it?” said John Stevenson, a local attorney for Marshall Investments, who said Marshall now owns the property – not the hotel business. “The trickle-down effects of this will run deeper and last longer than anyone thinks.”

About 200 people lost their jobs when the hotel closed.

As rumors began to circulate about a possible closure late last week, economic development agencies worked to find ways to shore up the county’s sagging $220 million tourism economy.

Tish Correa-Osborne, chairwoman of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, sent an e-mail Friday asking the chamber’s 900 members to open their homes to visitors displaced by the hotel’s closing.

Hosting visitors, Correa-Osborne said, “may be a small gesture, but it would certainly be one remembered for years and events to come.”

Jody Wassmer, chamber president, said Monday he had received five or six calls from people wanting to host visitors. “We expect the list to grow,” he said.

The closure left Kelli Davis, 24, of Rockport, Ind., in a panic when she learned the hotel would close before her wedding Saturday. Davis and fiance, Wes Fueger of Midway, Ind., had spent eight months planning a 300-person reception at the Executive Inn when they got word Thursday of the closing.

Davis said she was able to move the event to the Owensboro Country Club. “We’re lucky they were open for our date. They have been a lifesaver,” she said.

Davis’ father, Terry Davis, said they have been told their $5,500 deposit will not be refunded.

“This was the type of thing you see on TV that really doesn’t happen, except it did happen to us,” Terry Davis said.

People who have bought tickets to performances at the hotel – upcoming acts advertised on the hotel’s Web site included Loretta Lynn, the Oak Ridge Boys and Shooter Jennings – were told they will not get refunds at this time.

Jim Voyles of Total Market Concepts, who was busy Monday moving his office out of the Executive Inn’s basement, had helped recruit sports tournaments that are expected to bring 1,077 teams and 45,830 players and fans from across the country to the city this summer.

“We’re trying to find rooms within a two-hour radius of Owensboro for these tournaments,” Voyles said. “I’m getting calls from Lexington, Bowling Green and Evansville (Ind.) wanting us to move tournaments there. They’re circling like vultures.”

The 2008 Amateur Softball Association Girls’ Class A 16-and-under Fast Pitch National Championship, scheduled to begin July 27, is “10 times larger than the others,” said Karen Miller, executive director of the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau. It needs 400 rooms, she said.

“We’re working hard to keep as many people in town as we can,” Miller said.

The tournament is expected to draw about 140 teams and 10,000 people from across the country.

“We’re just praying that the ASA doesn’t step in and move the tournament,” Voyles said. “We have a 10-year history with them. But history means very little. It’s what you can do today that counts.”

Local officials were still optimistic Monday that a new company will soon buy the Executive Inn.

“No formal written offer to purchase has been received,” Stevenson said. “But I’m expecting it in the next week.”