The Hillsborough Board of Commissioners will re-visit the subject of the historical Colonial Inn, in a discussion that includes an offer from the UNC School of Government to study the cost of saving the crumbling landmark.
“We were working with Hillsborough a few months ago, helping them do a financial analysis for the redevelopment of the Bellevue Mill,” said Christy Raulli, interim associate director for the Development Finance Initiative, which helps local governments with economic development projects. “And, I think, through that contact, we started talking about the Colonial Inn.”
Raulli said the DFI is proposing a similar financial analysis for the redevelopment of the 176-year-old the Colonial Inn, for a proposed fee of $8,500.
She said she’ll be at the Town Barn when the offer is discussed at Monday night’s meeting of the Board of Commissioners, and it’s likely that the building’s owner, Francis Henry, will be there, too. Henry unsuccessfully tried twice in 2014 to obtain permission to tear down the building, if he so wishes.
Bob Johnson, the co-creator of the non-profit Colonial Inn Preservation Association, will certainly be there, too — “basically bringing to light that, yes, we formed our Colonial Inn Preservation Association – me, Krista [McKinnon] and many, many like-minded citizens of Hillsborough – with the intent of buying the Colonial Inn, partnering with the current owner of the Colonial Inn, or partnering with any other organization who might be interested in renovating the Colonial Inn.”
Johnson said that he, co-founder Krista McKinnon and the rest of the group want to save the Inn from “what looks like demolition by neglect right now.”
That statement points to Henry, the Chapel Hill businessman and UNC sports benefactor who purchased the historic property in 2001 at an auction.
Since then, he’s been locked in disputes with the town over the state and the fate of the Inn.
Johnson told WCHL that he and McKinnon have spent a lot of time with Henry in recent months.
“I’ve got to say, he’s been portrayed as a bit of an ogre in the local press,” said Johnson. “He’s really not. He may be a difficult person to do business with, but he’s really a nice guy and fun to hang around with.”
In terms of being “difficult to do business with,” Johnson said that negotiations with Henry so far have been “two steps forward, two steps back, or two steps sideways.”
“We know that his goals are the same as our goals,” said Johnson. “That is, a renovated Colonial Inn; a nice showplace in downtown Hillsborough; an anchor of the Hillsborough Historic District; some kind of event center or restaurant – a high-end destination restaurant, if you will.
“And so, we’re really trying to find ways where we can work together and achieve that dream.”
His non-profit group is only about a month old, and has raised very little money. Johnson said that serious fundraising will be a priority after the Board of Commissioners meeting.
Lacking a full, floor-to-ceiling assessment right now of what it would take to renovate the Inn, Johnson said he figures his group needs to raise at least $3 million.
Johnson added that waivers of property taxes by Hillsborough and Orange County would make the Colonial Inn more attractive to potential investors.
Monday’s 7 o’clock meeting of the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners takes place at the Town Barn, located at 101 East Orange Street.
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