There are no more appeals that can be made to save the Hotel Talisi.
Property owner Wylie Troupe and others have been fighting for years to save the hotel, but little progress has been made in the eyes of some city officials. Now a failure to appeal a 19th Circuit Court of Alabama Judge Sibley Reynolds ruling upholding the Tallassee City Council’s declaration of the hotel being a nuisance puts the ball back in the council’s hands.
“If we decide to demolish it, which it is already halfway demolished, what do we need to do?” councilmember Bill Godwin asked at a recent council meeting.
City attorney John Smith advised the council determining a cost to safely demolish the hotel should be done first.
“Then based on that information you can make a decision to hire whoever it might be to demolish that,” Smith said. “I think it is probably in the best interest of the city to have bids on doing that. The best thing is to put out for formal bid the demolition of that property.”
It has been 12 years since a fire gutted the building some investors were trying to renovate. Troupe acquired the building after a dissolution of the investment LLC renovating the building but work was slow. Tallassee attorney Mike Harper represented Troupe during last year as Troupe sought the council’s approval for yet another extension allowing the renovation to continue.
"He put a brand-new roof on it and new windows in it and was getting into position to do the renovations," Harper said at a council meeting last year on Troupe’s behalf.
But wind damage the roof before further renovations could happen and the damage was not covered by insurance.
Last year councilmembers said they were unsatisfied with the progress Troupe had made with the hotel.
"My issue is this, we have asked Mr. Troupe on several occasions to come with his architect to tell what his plans are. Tell us what you are going to do, when you're going to do it, and it has yet to be done," councilmember Jeremy Taunton said at a council meeting last year. "This is just going to continue to go on and on. We will be right back here next month, or in 30 days or in 60 days. I am all about giving someone an opportunity to fix a problem but this problem has been ongoing since 2018, when we started this, not to mention the 12 years before that."
Currently some of the flashing moves with the wind. City employees have reported falling bricks from the structure in the past. The city’s animal control officer reported a feral cat population had moved in.
Some councilmembers have sent emails to some residents in the last week seeking input about the hotel and the likelihood it could come down since the appeal deadline had passed.
The process for the city to clean up the hotel site would require the city to front any funds needed. The city could then bill Troupe for the cleanup and then put a lien on the property if he fails to pay.
Smith believes the city is protected from legal action in the demolition of the building at this point.
“I’m convinced that all the steps have been followed to declare it a nuisance,” Smith said. “It is obvious the owner will not remedy the nuisance. I believe under the law the city has the ability to eliminate that nuisance.”
The council did not establish any timelines for demolition or the bid process.
Attempts by the Tribune to contact Troupe were unsuccessful.
