12/08/2021
What closed the Tarrer Inn?
Residents and visitors alike miss the Tarrer Inn lunch service and lodging offerings. A common question heard around Colquitt is “when will the Tarrer reopen?”
For almost three decades, the Tarrer has been known for its delicious and generous lunch buffet, special events and Victorian-themed guest rooms. Its bold pink exterior is iconic, and its grand interior staircase has been the backdrop to hundreds of family portraits.
It’s been over ten months since the Tarrer has been closed to patrons for dining and lodging. This part of the Tarrer’s recent history started with Hurricane Michael in October 2018. Damage to the roofs of the main structure, kitchen, and annex resulted in extensive interior water infiltration. In the immediate weeks after the hurricane, a contractor was hired by staff of the Tarrer to replace the roofs. Due to the ill-repair by the contractor, all three roofs have failed and continued to allow water to infiltrate the interiors of all the buildings during rain events.
As well, the pitched green roofs that were installed over the traditional flat roofs on the main building and the annex defy historic standards established by the Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. Because those roofs were improperly installed and defy historic standards, they must to be removed.
The ongoing structural damage has accelerated the need for other exterior repairs, including the need to replace the deteriorating exterior stucco and the front porch balcony. In addition, the interior is suffering in multiple aspects from water damage.
The damage to the building was of such severity that the Jinks Foundation in coordination with the Downtown Development Authority made the difficult decision at the end of 2020, to cease operations until the interior and exterior damages could be remedied.
Throughout 2021, the DDA has been seeking solutions to save the Tarrer Inn. Multiple options have been explored, including grant opportunities, sale of the building to any interested party, private-public partnerships and application of creative thinking to find the resources to renovate the Tarrer. Each of these offerings failed, until a recent solution was identified in early Fall close to home.
As we all know our local hospital has become a specialty facility caring for people with chronic and long-term respiratory diseases. This has never been more needed within our State and our region as has been demonstrated during the past two years. As hospitals across the region have been bottlenecked with Covid-19 patients, our local hospital has played a critically important role in helping facilitate care for these patients and decompressing beds at facilities such as SAMC, Phoebe and Jacksonville so that they in turn could take heart attack and stroke patients from our local community.
This level of patient care requires highly trained, committed licensed staff. Oftentimes, that staff is relocating to the Colquitt-Miller County area, or in our community on an extended, but temporary basis. These staff members need convenient lodging. The Tarrer’s guest rooms can provide those accommodations and the downstairs can be renewed for public use, allowing the historic building to once again be enjoyed by community members and visitors alike.
Because of the vitally important role The Hospital Authority of Miller County has played in this community and in the region, a grant opportunity has become available to the Hospital Authority because of its state wide role in Respiratory Care that would allow for the extensive renovations needed to fix all exterior aspects and the interior components. The Jinks Foundation and the Colquitt Downtown Development Authority recognize the positive impact this funding will have on saving the Tarrer and both entities fully support this endeavor.
The time is now to save the structure known as the Tarrer and to breath fresh air into how the building is utilized. A collaborative partnership between the Jinks Foundation, Hospital Authority of Miller County, and the Downtown Development Authority will allow the Tarrer to reopen in a new capacity and bring life back to the Tarrer’s corner on the historic downtown square.
