By Whitney Skeeters
Staff Writer

Bostwick held an open house to showcase long-awaited renovations to the Susie Agnes Hotel Saturday, January 31, following the Fairplay Street sidewalk dedication to Tommy Tyson. Citizens were invited to see the new Heritage and Community Center, a room to be used for meetings and as a tribute to Bostwick's history.
"The Susie Agnes Hotel is a historic building, and luckily the city owns it," said Mayor John Bostwick. "We want to make it the centerpiece of the town. "
The hotel was built circa 1902 by Mayor Bostwick's grandfather, John Bostwick, and housed a bank and a country store on the first floor. Through funds from the Cotton Gin Festival, the city was able to purchase the hotel, turn the bank portion into Bostwick's City Hall, renovate a few rooms on the second floor for office space, and more recently the country store into a community center.
According to city council member Angie Howard, the city is planning for its 20th festival hopeful for continued progress on the hotel. They want to renovate all of the rooms on the second floor for office space. She hopes to once again meet the $10,000 marker she has set for herself for the past eight years as chair of the Cotton Gin Festival. It is important to her to maintain the history of Bostwick and the hotel.
"We've tried to keep the renovations as original as possible," said Howard. "We're not trying to take away from the historical perspective."
Citizens seemed to appreciate this sentiment at the open house.
Bostwick native Butch Malcom likes that they kept the original shelves that used to be in the country store.
"I love to see this," he said. "I love seeing old stuff that's been restored. I think this will be an asset to the community."
His wife, Angela Malcom, likes that they kept the brick, which was made and fired in a Bostwick brickyard over a century ago.
Drenda Clifton was surprised at the extent of the transformation.
"It's a beautiful building," said Clifton. "I like the floors, they look more like floors looked like when I was a kid."

PHOTOS BY A. BELLEBUONO

GATHERING Top: Bostwick friends and neighbors gathered Saturday morning to celebrate recent renovations to the Susie Agnes Hotel.

To view Images click Top Right Image

PUBLISHED IN THE FEBRUARY 5, 2009 EDITION