What does the rear wall of the 1824 Hale Springs Inn building and Great Aunt Lula’s bathing suit bloomers have in common? Neither had seen daylight since Ulysses S. Grant was president and there were only 38 states in the Union…. until now.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdrNWn8Rrvc]
The partially collapsed rear wall of the 1870 Inn addition came down at about 10:30AM this morning.
Architect Michael Emrick is now working on a new plan for the location of a kitchen which is expected to involve construction of a new building on the spot where the 1870 addition had been. To make that new building as authentic as possible officials hope to use the original brick from the addition.
“It all depends on the money,” said Rogersville building inspector Steve Nelson.
“We’re waiting to find out from the insurance company how much we’re going to receive, and when we find out how much money will be available we can decide what to put back,” Nelson said. “We are going to need to put a kitchen back there somewhere. …We’ll have to sort the brick out by hand — that’s the only way to do it — because only the exterior brick can be used. Hopefully we can use that to rebuild the new addition.”
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Emrick, Nelson and some others involved in the project have stated that the loss of the 1870 addition may be a blessing in disguise.
No one seems too distraught by the loss. Of course, for years, local historians have treated the addition like the Inn’s “embarrassing cousin.” When discussing the history of the building, they would often point out the addition as separate with the same sort of look on their face that I get when I talk about bailing kinfolk out of jail.
I took Lulu to survey the building earlier today. She, who has long loathed the addition, was initially planning to don her swimming drawers and parade down the street in celebration. After informing her we’d gladly let Sheriff Christian lock her up in the old people psyche ward with the elderly gentleman, who eats invisible oatmeal: she opted to wear her flowery print polyster “church meeting pants” instead.
I’m pretty sure he could have locked her up for that too – but we didn’t get caught.
[...] 31, 2008 by demarcationville First the Inn, and then the Capitol. Now, according to the Citizen Tribune, Hasson-Bryan and Bradley’s [...]