9 Years After “Hotel Talisi” Fire, Owner & Mayor Discuss Future Plans

It’s been exactly 9 years since the historic “Hotel Talisi” was destroyed by arson on November 29, 2009.

The landmark was built in 1928 and replaced the original that was destroyed by fire in 1915. The 2009 fire came just weeks after it had been renovated by a new owner.

A 17-year-old admitted he started that fire to cover up a burglary at a nearby store. The flames then spread to the hotel. No injuries were reported, but the old brick hotel decorated with antiques was reported a total loss.

The building has been gutted and vacant in downtown Tallasee for nearly a decade now. 

So what’s next for the historic building, that was once the vibrant center of downtown Tallassee?

You may remember last year, there were plans to re-open the Hotel’s buffet-style restaurant. The buildings owner, Wylie Troupe, says that never happened because renovations became too costly and complicated.  The building is now listed for sale, and after 7 weeks on the market, has a few interested buyers. Troupe says that most of the potential buyers say they’ll keep the building as a hotel and restaurant.

Tallasee’s Mayor,  Johnny Hammock  says re-opening the hotel downtown would be ideal, but city officials are now taking steps to consider attracting other hotels to the area as well, starting with a feasibility study in a “couple of weeks”.

The study, Hammock says, ” will let us know how many people could actually support a hotel, whether it be a 4o room [hotel] a 50 room, 60 room 100 room”.

The mayor says that re-opening the hotel would be a huge help to the cities downtown revitalization efforts. Tallasee was recently awarded a quarter of a million dollar grant to make much need improvements to sidewalks and other infrastructure.

It’s still too early to know for certain what will become of Hotel Talisi, but the mayor says re-opening the building in almost any capacity, would be a step in the right direction. Officials hope to start making the infrastructure improvements in the next couple of months.