City Denies Request to Demolish Vacant Capitol Inn Hotel

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A historic building in Montgomery will stay.
The Capitol Inn Hotel in the Cottage Hill neighborhood will not be demolished.

The city’s Architectural Review Board had a hearing Tuesday night.

The 1950’s hotel on Goldwaithe Street is vacant now and the owner says it is deteriorating.

The owner, James L. Lane, wants it torn down.
But some Cottage Hill neighbors say they want it to stay even if it’s empty.
The city would like to see plans for something else go in it’s place.

“If you have to get a development plan before you come into this board to get it demolished, you spend a great deal of money and you still don’t have the assurance, as Mr. Payne said, that they are going to approve it,” said Hotel owner’s representative Jim Bohannon.
“If there was a viable redevelopment plan in place, I might have a different feeling. But right now, that is a contributing structure that adds to the character of our neighborhood and, frankly, downtown Montgomery has enough empty lots,” said Cottage Hill resident Johnny Veres.

The board voted 4-3 to deny the request to demolish the hotel.