SELMA, Ala. (AP) – A hotel dating to before the Civil War has reopened in Selma near the bridge where demonstrators seeking voting rights for Black people marched in 1965.
The St. James Hotel, with a courtyard and rooms overlooking the Alabama River, resumed business Tuesday as part of the Hilton chain following a $5 million renovation that updated the old building in the heart of Selma, where the hotel first opened in 1836 when the city was a hub of Alabama’s plantation region.
The Selma Times-Journal reported that it took two years of planning, negotiations with the city of Selma and extensive refurbishments to return the three-story hotel to its former glory.
The head of the Birmingham-based Rhaglan Hospitality, which purchased the hotel from the city for about $300,000, was happy to see the project completed.
“I can’t properly express how thrilled I really am,” said President Jim Lewis.