LOXLEY, Alabama — Owners of the historic Loxley Hotel have 45 days to demolish the structure following a vote of the Loxley Town Council during a special called meeting on Monday, March 22.

After a nearly hour-long public hearing, Council members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution, declaring the structure, located at 3156 First Ave., an unsafe structure and public nuisance.

“As an environmentalist, I just hate to see us lose a piece of our history like this,” said Judy Wilkins of Pygmalion Properties LLC, who owns the building and surrounding property. “I believe the structure can be saved. We just need more time to do it.”

Wilkins testified during the public hearing with her attorney Julian Brackin. Testifying on behalf of the town with attorney Greg Vaughn were building inspector Jake Traweek and Fire Chief Tony Lovell.

According to records, the Old Loxley Hotel was built around 1905 by John Marold and his wife Ephrium, just before the railroad was constructed from Bay Minette to Foley. The hotel was located in front of the railroad, opposite the railroad depot.

After going through different owners through the years, the building was abandoned somewhere in the late 1970s and has sat empty ever since. Wilkins bought the hotel around 2000 and made a few repairs.

“You’ve had 20 years to save this structure,” said Council member Katherine Breeden. “I just want to know how we can have a brand new Piggly Wiggly right out there (across the street from town hall) and you haven’t been able to finish this during that time.”

Wilkins said she was approached by a local resident, Valerie Foy, about restoring the structure in 2012 but after several months working on the structure, Foy decided that she wasn’t able to complete the project, later moving to Arizona.

She said she also took on the task of serving as manager for the North Baldwin Animal Shelter after the shelter was experiencing financial difficulties.

She and her daughter own the property and have been working on the restoration since 2019.

The town presented a letter to Wilkins in September of 2019, providing a notice of unsafe structure, informing Wilkins she had 45 days to respond to the notice.

Wilkins addressed the council at its regular monthly meeting in December of 2019 and was granted permission to demolish part of the structure that has fallen into disrepair. Wilkins was given until February 2020 to present a plan for repairs, was scheduled to appear but was not present for the council’s Feb. 10 meeting.

Wilkins said the plan was to turn the refurbished structure into office space. Wilkins said the plan was to keep the main part of the original structure and to demolish an addition that was made to the structure, probably sometime in the 1920s.

Traweek testified that demolishing the additions, “uncovered a new set of problems with the structure.”

Traweek said the structural supports on the building had been exposed by the demolition and were in great disrepair.

“I believe the structure is unsafe,” Traweek said, “and if repairs aren’t made immediately on the structure, it needs to come down.”

Wilkins said she has had a verbal agreement with a contractor, but work has not been able to be completed on the structure because of weather delays and a COVID outbreak among the contractor’s workers.

“I have another contractor lined up to do the work if the other contractor is unable to proceed,” she said.

Traweek said Wilkins applied for permits for the property in May of 2020, but the permits were never approved because the contractor never produced a plan of action for work on the property.

Lovell, who is also a lieutenant with the town’s police department, said the structure also received damage during Hurricane Sally which has created an additional hazard to the structure.

“The structure itself is falling in and we have kids that will cut across that property,” he said. “In my opinion the building is not safe.”

Wilkins responded that anyone going onto the property that is not the property’s owners or the contractors working on the property should be considered trespassing.

“No one should be on the property but us or the workers we have hired,” she said. “If anyone else is on the property, it should be considered criminal trespassing.”

Lovell and others pointed out that bricks from the chimney structure had fallen in and were in danger of falling on the sidewalk surrounding the property.

“If people are walking on the sidewalk, that is not trespassing,” Lovell said.

Vaughn also presented an engineer’s report from Gary D.E. Cowles of Cowles, Murphy, Glover and Associates, a certified engineer.

“Mr. Cowles was supposed to be here to testify, but you have the report in front of you and I will read the last statement of his letter,” Vaughn said. “’It is my opinion as a registered professional engineer in the state of Alabama; the two story wood framed hotel structure is unsafe and should be razed immediately. The structure is unstable in its current condition on the deteriorated foundation members. I recommend the building be condemned and a hazard to public welfare.”’

Town residents also spoke during the public hearing saying they thought the structure was unsafe.

“I grew up here and came back to live and work here after serving in the Army,” said Chris Kerby, owner of Kerby Custom Renovations, a licensed contractor who has bought and is restoring other historic structures in the area around the hotel. “Nobody wants to see that building preserved more than I do, but I have been through the building and inspected it myself. In my opinion, in its current state it is unsafe and unsalvageable.”

Mayor Richard Teel also said he has lived in Loxley all his life and wanted to see the structure preserved, but felt that the structure had gone past that point.

“We have given you enough time and I just don’t see at this point we can wait any longer,” Teel said. “It is my firm opinion that the building is unsafe and it is my recommendation that it be torn down.”

According to the resolution passed during the council meeting, Wilkins has 45 days from notice to demolish the structure. They have until April 1 to appeal the decision.

In other business March 22, the council:

• Approved a water purchase and sale agreement with Spanish Fort Water & Sewer in order for the town to attach to water lines along U.S. 31.
• Approved an intergovernmental service agreement with the Baldwin County Commission to provide boom mowing and tree trimming along Truck Trail 17.
• Approved water testing with Pace Analytical in the amount of $2,993.
• Voted to extend sewer lines on County Road 64 at a cost of $6,925.

Following the special meeting, the council met in a work session, discussing:

• A donation request to the Central Christian School athletic program.
• The establishment of a Museum Committee, led by Joan Richardson and Patty Hudson. Additional members are Joey Knight, Barbara Lovell and Kasey Childress.
• The repeal and replacement of a town ordinance to provide a rotation for wrecker services within the town’s jurisdiction.
• The purchase of a monitor setup for use during meetings at town hall. Council member Chris McCall presented a quote for purchase from Datatrust Technologies of Summerdale in the amount of $2,937.44.
• The consideration of moving parttime library employee Linda Bankester to full time with benefits.
• Giving a 3% cost of living raise to town employees.
• The purchase of a power washer for the town’s Utilities Department.

Items discussed during the workshop meeting can be placed on the agenda for passage during the council’s April 12 meeting.