Powell feels the excitement

Businessman John Powell anticipates Tuesday night will be the last hurdle at the Oconee County level for his project to convert the former courthouse building into a Walhalla hotel. Powell is partnering with another Oconee County resident, Jim Carswell, to develop the project. Provided Tuesday’s final vote is favorable you can expect the start of some demolition work and then the start of construction “we hope by spring time,” he said. There have been repeated meetings with an out-of-state company to manage the hotel which, as yet, still has no official name. Powell is aware of concerns that a hotel and its adjoining business services could make parking for the new courthouse an even greater challenge than it is  some of the time. But he thinks the parking has been worked out. Powell says a meeting held with Clerk of Court Beverly Whitfield helped establish what Powell thinks is going to be a good neighboring relationship between Oconee Courthouse Ventures and the Oconee County Courthouse.