MAYFIELD, Ky. — One of the last remaining signs of Mayfield before the Dec. 10, 2021, tornado, is gone. The Hall Hotel, which towered over the now-empty overgrown fields of downtown, was demolished.
The Hall Hotel survived the storm and initial cleanup efforts, but was condemned in March of this year for damages sustained during the disaster.
There are mixed emotions surrounding the demolition.
Some said it’s time for the hotel to go and it’s an eyesore.
Others are sad to see the last piece of historic Mayfield, a piece they thought was safe, also lost to the tornado.
Both groups are holding on to the memories.
A visual and historic landmark is now reduced to rubble.
Since 1930, the Hall Hotel stood at the corner of Broadway and Seventh Street.
Originally three stories tall, it was a temporary home to traveling businessmen who came to Mayfield.
As popularity grew, so did the hotel, which added two more floors and more visitors.
Hall Hotel in the 1940s
An application to register the Hall Hotel as a historic place details “graceful arched bays on the first floor street elevations,” allowing “light and entranceways into the hotel’s lobby, restaurant, and commercial areas.”
Business has since dwindled, but Joseph Petty remembers the glory days.
“The Hall Hotel used to have the food stamp office up there. And then had Rita’s Cafe. And then, before all that came, it used to be a store used to be called Reese. Used to be a men’s clothing store and doctor’s office,” Petty said.
The bricks fell and the windows shattered, making the damage sustained in the Dec. 10 2021 tornado look minor.
It’s been three years and one week since that day.
“It’s sad. But it said they took so long to do something about it. They couldn’t save it. So what else to tear it down and start anew? You gotta start all over and let the past go,” Petty said.
It’s something this community has learned to do in the past three years, without forgetting what they still regard as an icon of Mayfield’s Court Square.
No future plans have been announced for the property, but Mayfield city leaders are excited about the possibilities.
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