Plans underway to restore historic Ky. hotel

RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - A historic hotel in downtown Richmond may be opening its doors once again.

The Glyndon Hotel was first built in 1889. The original building was destroyed in a fire two years later, but the current hotel has called Main Street home ever since

“People think of it when they were young, and it was a bustling place. They remember going in there with mom or dad or grandpa. They want to see it come back to that,” said Rodney Daivs, a partner in Glyndon Properties LLC. “They want to be able to go into and eat dinner, have friends or family stay in a hotel room, or go to a wedding in the event space. That’s what it means to people.”

Davis first tried to reinvigorate the historic Glyndon Hotel in 2019. Now he’s discussing a possible public/private partnership between Glyndon Properties and the City to bring it back to life as a 35-room hotel with valet parking and a rooftop bar.

“I think everybody wants to see that happen,” Davis said. “I also think it gives the commissioners a basis to say, hey, there’s community interest. So there’s a reason to spend our resources and energy moving in that direction.”

The idea of turning the Glyndon into a boutique hotel is one commissioners say would be great for the city.

“We have a deficiency of good conference space in our community. For a city our size, with the University, to have an upscale boutique hotel downtown, with conference space, just makes sense,” said City Manager Rob Minerich.

Minerich says they’ll move forward with a feasibility study to see if they can attract investors or if the city itself can help fund the project.

“For me, it would be awesome to see that open in three, four or five years,” Minerich said. “I think it would be a catalyst for our downtown area.”

Minerich says they’d hope to have the feasibility study completed by the end of the year and could hopefully start on the project in 2024.

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