Hitson not giving up on project

By Tiffiny Woo

Published: June 20, 2008

Historic Bluff City Inn, LLC developer and owner William M. Hitson says the situation with the Bluff City Inn is self-explanatory.
“The (for sale) sign says it all,” he said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
It’s true that Hitson is entertaining the option to sell the property, but that doesn’t mean he is giving up on the hotel project completely.
“I’m not giving up on it,” said Hitson. “I’m not the kind to give up.”
Hitson said environmental issues with the old gas station adjacent to the property have held up the process of starting the project.
The gas station has been a factor in the project’s potential since architect Frank Mixon and attorney Sonny Harrison first appeared before the Eufaula Historic Preservation Commission last year for approval.
At the time, commission members wanted to know what alternatives had been planned if the gas station property couldn’t be used for the entrance of the hotel.
Mixon mentioned an alternative design placing the entrance on West Broad Street was a possibility.
Hitson commented Wednesday that even with the alternative design, clearing up environmental issues with the gas station was still vital to the project.
“We’ve been unable to clear up the environmental issues so far and probably won’t clear things up for some time,” he said. “This will take time; it took years for it to get that way and it will take time to get it straightened out.”
Hitson said he is now exploring other options for the property
“If someone calls us up and wants to buy it (the Bluff City Inn), then it will have a new owner,” he said simply. “If they don’t, then we’ll just see what happens. It (the new hotel) might still work out.”
Having the hotel project work out is something Dan McKenzie would also like to see happen. McKenzie owns the old gas station in question as well as the nearby McKenzie Market BP store.
He has plans to build a car wash facility on part of his property, but those plans, he said, wouldn’t interfere with what Hitson wants for the Bluff City Inn.
“I would like to see the hotel built,” said McKenzie. “We have a lot of visitors come here for fishing tournaments for example. It would be a nice place for their families to stay while they fish. They could walk around the block, enjoy the neighborhood and go downstairs for shopping and dining.”
McKenzie has been working with the developer to solve the issues holding up the project. Hitson said he would also like to see the project work out, and stated that it’s not the various people working on the project that are holding up the process.
“They’re all great people,” he said. “I would like to see it go through.”