By D. E. Smoot
Green Country photographer Mesha Bevilacqua said the old Muskogee Hotel is rid of its former occupants, clearing the way for a three-phase renovation project.
?My tenants were kind of flighty,? Bevilacqua said of the extensive pigeon population that has occupied the vacant downtown building during the past few years. ?But they?ve all been evicted, and we?ve boarded up the windows in preparation of the project.
Bevilacqua purchased the hotel this past August. She plans to open a photography studio inside the downtown Muskogee landmark and lease other parts of the building to local retailers.
Eventually, Bevilacqua said, the unoccupied parts of the old hotel?s lower floors will be available to rent for special events. Upon completion of the project, Bevilacqua said suites and banquet facilities will fill the hotel?s upper floors.
?We have the plans ready, but we haven?t taken them back over to get our permits,? Bevilacqua said. ?All I have to do is just do it ? it?s a huge project, but I didn?t want to get everything going and then stop due to winter weather.?
Besides providing prime downtown space for Bevilacqua?s photography business, The Right Angle Photography, the entrepreneur said she wants to restore the hotel and preserve its rich history.
Part of that history, Bevilacqua said, is the hotel?s other rumored guests: Claire, Mr. Smith and a 10-year-old boy.
?It?s haunted,? Bevilacqua said when talking about the hotel?s storied past. ?There is a lot of talk about that and, of course, people like to share what they know.?
A personal experience Bevilacqua was willing to share occurred since she acquired the old hotel, which was closed to residential occupancy in 1991.
While trying to rid the building of pigeons and secure it from trespassers, workers began boarding up the ground floor windows. Bevilacqua said she was told Mr. Smith wasn?t going to approve of those efforts.
Dismissing those words of caution, Bevilacqua said she had spoken with Mr. Smith, and he had no problems with her plans to revive the Muskogee Hotel. All assurances aside, Bevilacqua said workers returned later to find a piece of plywood missing from one of the windows.
?We boarded up the hole and closed the windows behind the plywood,? Bevilacqua said. ?When we went inside (a few days later), the window had been opened, but the board was still there.?
Bevilacqua said she has been contacted by paranormal researchers who want to investigate claims the old hotel might be haunted, but she rejected their requests. She admits, however, that those tales add to the building?s intrigue and people?s curiosity.
?I could have made a mint judging by the number of people who wanted to tour the hotel on Halloween,? Bevilacqua said. ?You just don?t know how many people will be attracted to the hotel because of those stories.?
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/lo ... art:int=15
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