Wednesday, April 30, 1997
Rock Hotel's future is solid as stone
By KEN ELLSWORTH / Senior Staff Writer
WINTERS - Randall Conner, the owner of Farmers Seed and Supply,
was more than willing to spend his time showing me the Rock Hotel
on Tuesday afternoon.
We walked inside.
In the hotel's old lobby were table saws, sanders, and other
carpentry tools. In the next room a carpenter was busy working
on a glass paned double door.
Conner pointed to a spot on the wall in the lobby.
"That's where we are going to put the pot bellied stove,
over there," he said. "It will be just like the one
that was originally here. We have a lot of old photographs that
show us the way things were."
Conner is the president of the Z.I. Hale Museum Foundation.
The Hale museum is right across the street from the historic Rock
Hotel. The museum foundation, determined to restore the historic
Rock Hotel, purchased the building in 1987.
That the Rock Hotel is historic is attested to by a Texas State
marker that was placed on the front of the hotel in 1982, even
though the old hotel was not in very good shape back then.
The marker says the hotel was built in 1909 by the J.H. Heath
family. As one might expect from the name, the two-story Rock
Hotel was made from native stone. The hotel was built just a couple
of blocks from Abilene and Southern railroad station. Traveling
salesmen, then called drummers, were the principal clients of
the 5,000 square-foot, 14 bedroom structure, in its prime.
The structure of the hotel is unique. None of the 14 bedrooms
were designed alike.
Conner said the hotel's restoration is nearing completion after
10 years of work. Downstairs, the old dining room is almost completely
restored.
"We'll charge a nominal fee to groups that meet here.
We're just haven't figured out how nominal," Conner said
and laughed.
The hotel's parlor will serve as a smaller conference room
and will have a little fire place.
"Were hoping to be finished with the whole project by
the end of this year, but that is probably too optimistic,"
Conner said.
The upstairs rooms will become an extension of the displays
of the museum next door.
"We're so crowded over there (in the museum) we can't
hardly see straight. In fact, we've got enough stuff in the museum
right now to fill this place right up and still be crowded,"
Conner said.
The second floor of the hotel is still in bad shape. The floor
sags in places and there are holes in the rotting wood. Window
frames have rotted too.
All this work is expensive, despite volunteers. The original
structure certainly cost far less than the $225,000 Conner says
the museum foundation will have spent for the restoration when
all is said and done.
Conner showed me the back portion of the hotel where the stone
walls had been torn down, a new foundation built under them, and
the walls erected again with the original stones.
'That alone cost between $75,000 and $80,000," Conner
said.
he money came from charitable events, bake sales, T-shirt sales,
small and large private donations, and charitable foundations.
Sometimes the restoration has gone on when folks were not certain
where the next dollar was coming from. And more funding, of course,
is still needed to complete the project.
Conner estimates that 40-50 people in Winters (population 2,899)
have served actively on boards and committees that have worked
to restore the Rock Hotel. Many others, he said, have also contributed
money and labor.
"It took a little while, but we've had a lot of community
support," Conner said.
Now, though, there is light at the end of the long restorative
tunnel. Fund-raising dinners have already been held in the beautifully
restored hotel dining room.
"We just push all these carpentry tools aside or walk
around them and go ahead and have our dinner," Conner said.
This column covers the cities and communities of this part
of West Texas. To contact Ken Ellsworth, call (800) 588-6397 or
(915) 673-4271, Ext. 381, or write to P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX
79604.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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