Landmark reopening

The doors of the Ocoee Inn have been locked for three years, but today it will reopen with a new name and owner.

Pete Blackwell said the look of Blackwell's on Lake Ocoee will be familiar to its past patrons.

"I didn't change anything," Mr. Blackwell said. "Just cleaned it up."

But the menu reflects an updated culinary style while keeping some of the Ocoee Inn's traditional favorites, such as the home-cooked vegetables and buttermilk pie. And the million-dollar view of the lake and mountains remains unobstructed, Mr. Blackwell says.

"I've been on this lake all my life," he said, standing in the building's dining room. "And I thought many times how much I'd like to own this restaurant."

After semi-retiring as a Cleveland, Tenn.-area builder and a subdivision developer, he contacted Jerry Hamby, who has leased the restaurant, motel and marina from the National Park Service for 39 years.

Mr. Hamby said he subleased the restaurant to Mr. Blackwell.

"I've known Pete through the years, and everything I've observed him do, he's gone at it 110 percent," Mr. Hamby said.

Chef Cheryl Wilson is the daughter of Helen Wilson, the Ocoee Inn's cook for 25 years, so she knows how to prepare the food the restaurant was known for, Mr. Blackwell said.

Ms. Wilson's son, Chris Wilson, will be the master griller.

"It's nice to have this continuity with the past," Mr. Hamby said.

The restaurant, which will employ 10 to 25 full- and part-time workers, depending on the season, will be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for lunch and dinner through April. Once rafting season picks up, additional days will be added to the schedule, Mr. Blackwell said.

He said he and Mr. Hamby are encouraged by the response they've gotten from people who've heard the local landmark is serving again.

"It seems like every time I go to town or church, people ask me when I'm going to reopen the restaurant," Mr. Hamby said. "Now I have an answer."