Plans are clearer now for the Kaufman House hotel and restaurant in Zelienople, which has been closed for more than three years after a fire in the kitchen.

The Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau announced nearly a year ago that it was partnering with the Butler County Community College to buy and open a for-profit boutique hotel at the Kaufman House that would serve both as a business and as a training ground for BC3 culinary and hospitality students.

The tourism bureau already has received a $400,000 grant from the state in addition to kicking in $500,000 from its own budget toward the landmark eatery’s renovation.

Some potential competitors raised questions and objections about that arrangement. They said it would be difficult to consider supporting a tourism bureau that was operating a competing establishment while expecting it to promote and market guest accommodations equally. It was especially unfair, some said, because of the tourism bureau’s access to public funding.

Tourism Bureau President Jack Cohen cleared all that up Friday, saying his agency intends to find a buyer for its share of the enterprise.

Cohen said Friday the bureau has begun contacting restaurant and hotel groups that might be interested in buying the Kaufman House. It’s hoped that a buyer will be identified within a few months.

Any company that buys the Kaufman House would eventually repay the tourism bureau for the money it put into the project.

Cohen recently met with a trade group, the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, which represents all sorts of different chains of hotels and restaurants. He said that meeting could go a long way in determining who moves into the Kaufman House.

While the announcement is significant by any standard, Cohen says it might take another year and a half before the Kaufman House reopens. He urges patience: “It would be nice to start tomorrow, but that’s not how it works,” he said. “We’re still going through all the right paperwork with the state to get the right approvals. We have to do our due diligence.”

Only after a buyer is chosen will an architect be hired to draw up the renovations. That’s not unreasonable since the owner should have a say in the design.

The change of direction enhances plans for Kaufman House’s revival; coupled with the recent news of a $3 million state grand for downtown Zelienople renovations, it speaks well for the future of the borough as a tourist destination and an asset to Butler County.