Hotel Marion makeover
The historic downtown hotel is being restored, in part, to its original glory.
The restoration of the historic Hotel Marion began in the spring of 2022 and the “Gazette’’ keeps popping over to see how the efforts to revive the landmark build are faring.
The project to renovate the hotel, built in 1927, is being co-managed by local business owner David Midgett and HDG Hotels.
The scaffolding came down recently, after a façade refresh that included stucco work, a new roof and new paint.
“We spent the time and money to determine the original colors of the building, decorative elements and windows, so the exterior now looks just like it did 98 years ago,” said Midgett.
Midgett told the “Gazette” that the façade required a significant amount of work to stabilize the stucco and decorative elements, which was expected.
He said the metal roof installed by the prior owners was not authentic historically, but it has now been replaced with a barrel tile roof as was originally installed.
Midgett said the biggest “unexpected” exterior expense came at the cost of $1 million when they decided to remove and repair all the “original cypress wood windows” rather than just replace them with new windows.
The decision to restore the windows came by recommendation from the Florida Trust, “which holds and oversees the exterior conservation easement of the building” he explained.
Midgett said the window restoration did allow them to increase energy efficiency in some ways, however.
Now with the exterior renovation complete, the group is working on the interior, which also includes “small details” of preservation.
Midgett indicated that preservation has been helped along by “our federal historic tax credit consultants, Heritage Consulting Group.”
The new target date to open the Hotel Marion is the end of 2025.