A Historic Alabama Hotel Linked to the Civil Rights Movement Is Falling Apart. Can the Conservationists Fighting to Save It Turn the Tide?

Efforts to save the historic Edistone Hotel have taken on new urgency after part of the building’s exterior collapsed, likely because the landmark in downtown Selma, Alabama, has gone years without a secure roof, Todd Prater reports for Black Belt News Network. The damage underscores the need for swift action to stabilize the structure and prevent further deterioration. Meier on August 20, just three days before the collapse.

After the Civil War, it housed a local office of the Freedmen’s Bureau, the federal agency established to assist formerly enslaved people and others affected by the conflict. During the civil rights movement, the structure provided lodging for demonstrators and became a gathering point for activists. The hotel is just a few blocks away from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where approximately 600 marchers were attacked by law enforcement on March 7, 1965, in what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” But by the late 20th century, as Selma struggled with population loss and economic decline, the building had fallen into disrepair.

Its last occupant, a barbershop, left when the roof began to leak, and in 2022, the hotel was included on the Places in Peril list, an annual roundup of endangered properties compiled by the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation. Years of neglect had left the structure in precarious condition, and the hotel appeared destined for demolition until the Conservation Fund stepped in and purchased it last year. The news was welcome to Rex Jones, who owns a business across the street from the hotel and had watched its condition worsen for years.

Now it joins a larger effort to protect America’s full story — from Civil War battlefields to Harriet Tubman’s monument. See what’s next: https://t.co/X1QCACwjG8 pic.twitter.com/ThPdPVa1CF The Conservation Fund is working with the City of Selma, Boston-based MASS Design Group and other partners to give the hotel a second life. Possible future uses include a museum, a co-working space and a grocery store.

It wants to help stabilize the structure, then let someone else take over and “make a lot of those decisions about the next steps, the design and what the space will ultimately become,” Howard tells the Art Newspaper. A structural engineer’s assessment will guide the work, but Sarah Aghedo, executive director of the Selma Redevelopment Authority, remains hopeful that the building’s most significant historic features can be preserved. Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado.

She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.