arts, books and music
Plan to convert the Dew Drop Inn into a hotel is dead — landmark building’s future uncertain
|
By Nicholas Reimann, Uptown Messenger
Plans to redevelop the historic, dilapidated Dew Drop Inn building on Lasalle Street in Central City into a modern hotel, restaurant and music venue have officially been scrapped. A deal had been in place late last year that would have seen the 80-year-old, predominantly Jim Crow-era music venue sold to a developer with plans to renovate the two-story, 10,000-square-foot space to include 15 hotel rooms, along with a restaurant, music venue and a museum dedicated to New Orleans music. But that deal — to sell the space to Ryan Thomas and his company Peregrine Interests — fell through at the end of the year. In late April, the effort officially ended. The project had been plagued by potential investors backing out, Thomas said, with its last effort — a crowdfunding campaign — bringing in just $200 of the $1 million Thomas hoped to raise.