Mayor Says One Of Prattville’s Historic Home’s Has Future
It’s been three years since fire heavily damaged a home in Prattville’s Daniel Pratt Historic District. So what is the home’s future?
The Hall House sits on the corner of 4th St. and Chestnut St. — it’s one of the main thoroghfares to get to downtown Prattville. But that fire has since made this house unlivable and an eyesore for those driving by.
The Hall House sits in Prattville’s historic district. It was once a white home. It was hard to miss.
But today, the home is even more noticable — it is now boarded up. Parts of it are covered in ash and some of the windows are broken.
The home is on the National Register of Historic places and after more than three years, mayor Bill Gillespie says it’s finally getting a facelift.
“The house was part of an arson, so there was an arson investigation, so you know, that slowed things down,” Said Gillespie.
He says some people think the slow down is because of who owns the house — an elected official — Autauga County Probate Judge, Alfred Booth.
“The reason it’s taken so long… does it have anything to do with the house belonging to Judge Booth?” Asked reporter, Catalina Trivino.
“No,” Said Gillespie. “The two factors is that it is in a historic district. But then it also has its historic value to the city of Prattville.
We reached out to Booth, who has not returned our calls, but his son tells us a contractor should start work on the house soon.
Ann Boutwell is a Historian with the Autauga County Heritage Association. She says until now, she thought the house was going to be a total loss.
“We have wondered. We have watched this house concerned about what was going to happen with it. You know, I understand the delay in improving and repairing the property. It’s very expensive to re-do older homes,” Said Boutwell.
The mayor says he hopes to get a completion date for renovating the Hall House in about two weeks. If it gets close to the end date and there’s been no progress with the home, the city can buy or demolish it after 45 days.
