MAYFIELD, Ky. — As the demolition of the historic Hall Hotel is underway, the city of Mayfield offered community members bricks from the former structure as a token of remembrance for a downtown staple.
Built in 1930, the five-story hotel originally accommodated traveling salesman, and it became a central hub for the city’s businesses and social functions at its height. Though the hotel faced a decline in recent decades, the community still considered it a hallmark.
The demolition of the historic Hall Hotel continues on Tuesday, December 31.
The December 2021 tornado then ravaged the hotel and much of the area. The city’s condemnation board declared the building unsafe in March.
Jill Celaya, the chair of Mayfield Rebuilds and a lifelong resident, said the bricks she picked up also signify the resilience of the city in continued recovery.
Mayfield Rebuilds is a local volunteer organization that has developed plans to revitalize the city’s infrastructure, essential services and physical structures damaged in the tornado.
Celaya said Mayfield Rebuilds has noted the input of the community and spearheaded roughly 20 recovery projects, with some accomplished and others still being pursued. She said the group honors the city’s history by directing it toward prosperity, devising a blueprint to reestablish Mayfield.
Celaya described the demolition as a bittersweet moment of departing with the rubble of downtown to create opportunities for rebuilding in its place. She stressed the importance of preserving the city’s memory to trace a way forward, exhibited not in physical structures but the unity of its people.
Along with other relief groups, she highlighted work from Mayfield Rebuilds in FEMA assistance and reconstruction project coordination to forge a promising path.
Though the city grappled with a dramatically transformed landscape post-tornado, she said the community’s identity lies in its tight-knit bonds. Having served on the board for the Main Street development project more than 30 years ago, she said the town historically relies on camaraderie to flourish.
Using her bricks to build a small pathway at her home, she said each step on the remnants of Hall Hotel will remind her of the strides the community has made in rebuilding.
Will Spencer is a reporter for the Mayfield Messenger. Visit mayfield-messenger.com to read the full article.
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