Bluefield City Board Backs Matz Hotel Renovation
By William PaineBluefield News Network Writer
Bluefield, WV (BNN) -- The City Board agreed to sign a letter of support for Rhonda Sullivan’s request for a predevelopment grant so that a plan can be devised to renovate the Matz Hotel located on Princeton Avenue in downtown Bluefield, West Virginia. Sullivan bought the Matz last year and is now asking the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office for $25,000 in assistance. The city of Bluefield will act as a conduit for state grant funds if her request is accepted.
Here’s what Sullivan sees for the future of the once vibrant now dilapidated Matz Hotel:
“We want to bring it back to the way it was in the 1920’s, with a restaurant, gift shop and maybe we’ll add a museum,” she said. “If we get funds we plan to start renovating 85 rooms in the newer section of the Hotel because its in better condition,” she continued. “These rooms will be for more long term residents but we could rent 20 or 30 of those rooms by the night.”
Sullivan said that the Matz Hotel was first built in 1907 with a large annex added in 1911. Sullivan estimates that renovating the entire building would cost about $65 per square foot -- which translates into upwards of $3.5 million.