It was a celebration of teamwork and community Thursday morning as dozens of local officials, businessmen and residents came out for the ribbon cutting ceremony at the brand new TownePlace Suites Marriott hotel in Wareham.

The 85-room hotel, which is located at 50 Rosebrook Place off of Route 28, opened its doors on April 3 and was sold out by April 20. The hotel has already played host to a few events in town and Thursday served as its formal introduction to the community.

"This has been a long ride," said state Rep. Susan Williams Gifford. "We are finally here and it's truly been a collaboration."

The hotel is in many ways the crown jewel on a parcel of land owned by A.D. Makepeace. The hotel is surrounded by health care facilities and commercial businesses that make up the entire Rosebrook Place property.

"Many years ago the [Makepeace] board wanted to do something with this space - the front door to 6,000 acres of land," said Jim Kane, senior vice president of A.D. Makepeace. "We wanted a hotel with a flag," he said.

The hotel is catered to the "Do-It-Yourself" person on extended stays, according to the hotel's general manager Randy King. He said the average stay at the hotel is 17.5 days and each room comes with a fully equipped kitchen. He also said that 85 percent of the staff at the hotel is comprised of Wareham residents.

"This town has needed this kind of thing to show that Wareham is a place to come to, to live and it's just a beautiful place," said Selectman Patrick Tropeano.

Richard Lafrance, CEO of Lafrance Hospitality Company, the owners and operators of the hotel, said he believes in the South Coast and wants to come to communities where they can make a difference.

The ribbon that he cut to open the hotel was made of $10 bills, all of which were donated to the Wareham Distributive Education Clubs of America program at the Wareham High School. The program recently sent 24 students to an international business and marketing competition in Florida.

"It's really a pleasure to be in Wareham," Lafrance said. "We're going to be here for a long time."