Abandoned motel on Old Dixie to be renovated, reopened as 'The Henry'

Palm Coast Observer
News

The decrepit motel property at 2251 Old Dixie Highway, with its broken windows and walls scrawled with graffiti, is under new ownership and will be renovated into a new hotel called "The Henry," named after Henry Flagler.

Images courtesy of the Flagler County government

The former owners paid a combined $69,926 in fines and taxes at closing after selling the property to First Choice Investments this past May, according to a county staff presentation at an Aug. 2 County Commission meeting.

County backs Ag Museum's expansion proposal

Flagler County commissioners are supporting the Florida Agricultural Museum's plans for the creation of a new visitor center/museum building, research facility and pioneer village on the museum's current site in northern Flagler County.

"Over the years, the county has strongly supported the Agricultural Museum," Commissioner David Sullivan said at an Aug. 2 commission meeting. "... We think there’s all kinds of potential."

The County Commission at the meeting passed a resolution stating that commissioners "endorse the Florida Agricultural Museum expansion plan, and will provide assistance when available and needed for the duration of the project."

That endorsement will make it easier for the museum to qualify for grant funding for the expansion.

The museum's leadership will also return to the County Commission with a specific funding request during a future meeting.

The county government had been pressing the previous owners to clean up the site since 2016.

Since the building's sale, the new owners have demolished and filled in the formerly green and stagnant pool — eliminating a danger that led the health department to impose $45,000 in fines against the former owners — and gutted the hotel rooms on the building's northern side.

"This hotel has been an eyesore to the community at large for a number of years, and the administration, building department and everyone involved is moving as fast as possible to. … remove this stain from Flagler County," county code enforcement officer Scott Simon said at the commission meeting.

The new owners are in the second phase — the demolition and cleanup phase — of a three-part reconstruction project, Simon said. The next step will be the renovation.

First Choice Investments, he added, met with the city's tourism and economic development staff and "appear to have a very aggressive schedule."

County Commissioner David Sullivan called the renovation an opportunity, noting that the county needs hotel space and that a hotel will generate tax money.