The paint is chipping away and some of the shutters are slanted, beginning to fall off of the façade of Selma’s one and only historic, waterfront hotel. But that is the issue at hand for the Selma City Council — the St. James is the city’s waterfront hotel. It belongs and is run by the city of Selma.

In recent council discussions, representatives have voiced their opinions on what they think should be the city’s next move for the hotel — to keep it under their watch or to sell to a hotel chain.

While the city owns the hotel, the company Gourmet Services signed a five-year contract to operate the St. James in 2008. Selma Mayor George Evans said the contract was just renewed for another five years, but, “they want to get out of that contract this year,” ending the terms earlier than expected.

“We are still waiting to get a letter back from [Gourmet Services] indicating what their timeline on this is,” Evans said, explaining the company wants out of the contract as early as this month. Evans hopes to wait until September, when another party can be found to take over operations for the St. James. “They are not agreeing to what I suggested to them from the standpoint of September being a closeout time.”

Gourmet Services is an Atlanta-based company that specializes in hospitality management training in conjunction with local colleges such as Alabama State University.

Evans also told the council that Gourmet Services simply does not have the funds available to continue their management of the St. James and so the discussion turned to what is to come of the hotel. Evans said he wants to avoid closure of the facility, especially since there are multiple events on the books this summer. He is in the planning stages of getting knowledgeable volunteers together to staff the hotel with during these special events.

Working with the Downtown Merchant’s Association, Evans will be putting together an ad-hoc committee for the hotel’s plans.

To get a feel of what city representatives hope for the historic location, the Times-Journal polled council members and asked if the city should keep the St. James and hold it under the city’s management, or list it and sell it to a chain or other entity.

Council President Corey Bowie: Keep it

“We need to keep it. We are in the process right now of coming up with different ways to keep it and the mayor asked me to get an ad-hoc committee with the council to restore it. I think that the St. James is a pivotal part of the overall tourism industry we are trying to develop here.”

Ward 1 Councilman. Dr Cecil Williamson: List it

“We definitely need to sell. Sixteen years, three mayors, and four management companies, and look at the condition it’s in. If we do the same thing again, we’re going to get the same result. The city does not need to be in the hotel business — we need to sell it to a reputable hotel chain. Absolutely list it, the sooner the better.”

Ward 2 Councilwoman Susan Keith: Keep it then list it

“I think that we should get it stabilized and get it out of the horrible state it’s in. We need to not just get rid of it, but also see if we can get a quality chain that knows hotels and historic hotels to take it. I don’t think that we need to just get rid of it — I think we need to do whatever we need to do.”

Ward 3 Councilman Greg Bjelke: List it

“It’s like a mom putting her baby up for adoption. If we can’t take care of it and run it properly and see it as the gem of the south, let’s pass it to someone who can. Let’s get this baby adopted and find the St. James a new mom.”

Ward 4 Councilwoman Angela Benjamin: Keep it

“Who sells property on the water? Nobody does. It would be crazy for us to sell a hotel on the riverfront in an area that we are already developing and everybody knows this — that we are developing Water Avenue. And the St. James sits on both, behind the back of it is on the water and the front of it is on Water Avenue. You can’t ask for a better location and everybody knows it’s about location, location, location.”

Ward 5 Councilman Sam Randolph: Keep it

“It just has so much history, it’s a precious building, but what I would do I would try and lease it to a hotel chain like a Ramada, Hilton or something like that. We need to find a hotel chain that would keep it up and run it well because we don’t want to lose something like this.”

Ward 6 Councilman Rev. B.L. Tucker: Keep it

“It could be a jewel for the city of Selma because there is so much we could put into it and get it off the ground where it is today. We just need to find somebody good to operate it. People have put in so much work to get it where it is today.”

Ward 7 Councilwoman Bennie Ruth Crenshaw: Keep it

“I am just hoping that Selma can capitalize on that hotel for economic reasons and for personnel and employment — I just want it to be something we own. I don’t want to see people come from out of town [to run it] because I think that is what has been happening now. We need to be willing to take it on and use people from Selma to make it grow.”

Ward 8 Councilman Michael Johnson: Keep it

“Once the amphitheater shows up, it’s going to be a key part of the revenue for us because once the amphitheater finishes, people are going to want to stay. It’s already booking up, we just need to get some people in there who know how to manage it and continue on working with us. But we don’t need to sell it, we need to hold on to it.”