By Associated Press - Sunday, September 25, 2016

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A 100-year-old building in downtown Montgomery is expected to be turned into hotel.

The wedge-shaped Bishop-Parker building across from Riverwalk Stadium will be turned into a Springhill Suites hotel, the Montgomery Advertiser (https://on.mgmadv.com/2dd7ZW6) reported. Developers plan to spend $14 million on the project.

Renovation work will start near the end of the year and take about 14 months. One of the developers says the exterior will remain mostly untouched to keep the building’s “historic charm” to balance the “modern and urban feel.”

“This will not be your typical hotel room,” said developer John Tampa, who owns four other hotels in Montgomery. “It will be more an experience. It will take you back in the past and the golden age of this building, and also take you to the present.”

Schloss & Kahn Wholesale Grocers built the building was built between 1905 and 1907. Bishop-Parker used the space as a furniture store and warehouse for two decades. The building has about 80,000 square feet of space and ceilings up to 16 to 17 feet high.

Bishop-Parker, which was founded in 1923, has vacated the building.

Montgomery mayor Todd Strange said the announcement of the Springhill hotel is the third project in downtown. The most recent announcement was a $12.5 million hotel project for a former skate park site in June.

“They know the more hotel rooms we get, the bigger the conventions can be,” Strange said.

More than 900 hotel rooms currently open downtown, said Dawn Hathcock of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

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