Historic Hotel To Get Second Life?

Fairhope, Alabama

131 Fairhope Avenue.

SUMMIT STREET INN

The city's Board of Adjustments approved a special-use exception for B3-b zoned property just outside the central business district at 131 Fairhope Avenue (corner of Summit St.) -- so the property may be used as a hotel again, as it originally was in the 1920s.

Currently being used for short-term rentals with a small retail boutique, owner Shelly Springer (Summit Street Inn Llc.) intends to rehabilitate the building as a "heritage hotel" to "reclaim its charming 100-year history" -- according to application documents.

IN BAYFRONT HISTORIC DISTRICT

Built by Marmaduke Dyson in 1925 as Captain Jack Cross' new Fairhope Hotel (old one burned), the structure is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, and carries the shield of the Baldwin County Historical Development Commission -- making it eligible for tax credits which Springer has already applied for.

SIX ROOM HOTEL PLANNED

When completed, possibly within about a year, there will be six rooms with full baths, with the required six on-site parking spaces in a new gravel lot in back. The single employee will have one parking space as well (7 total).

Required access for the disabled will be added as well (ramps).

MANY FAMOUS GUESTS

Celebrities such as John Dewey, Upton Sinclair, Clarence Darrow, and even Henry Ford stayed there in the early days; later it was purchased by Wallace "Bill" Millham for his 'Yardarm Guesthouse' and 'Square Rigger' restaurant in the 1970s, according to a written history provided. (Many remember Millham as a radio personality later.)

Springer purchased the property herself in 2021 and immediately began rehabilitation; she does not currently reside there herself -- but about a block away, she said.

The planning commission will have to ok the new plan at some point as well, according to planning director Simmons.