The proposed location for the new Chancellor’s Inn hotel is seen in Oxford, Miss.
(DM Photo/Vince Davis)
On a normal football game weekend at The University of Mississippi, hotels have no vacancies for miles around Oxford, which could be rectified in a small way by a proposed hotel.
A proposed hotel, The Chancellor’s House, would be situated at the corner of South Lamar Boulevard and University Avenue, where the Checkers restaurant was before its closing in fall 2012. But with such a small space for the project, many people question whether it would be a viable addition to the Square and downtown Oxford.
Storeowners on the Square, such as Ann Cleary, owner of AC’s Bed & Bath, have concerns with the functionality of the hotel and how it will fit into the area. Cleary believes it could likely be “very difficult to navigate in and out of the hotel” mainly because of parking.
However, assistant city planner Katrina Hourin describes the hotel in a way that could potentially alleviate these kinds of concerns. She said the hotel will be handling parking exclusively underground and will accommodate cars on a 1.1 space/room ratio.
Another concern raised is whether the hotel will aesthetically fit into the traditional image of the Square.
Hourin believes it would be difficult to establish a hotel with a design that “is not appropriate to or in keeping with the architectural style of the Square.”
Sophie Williamson, a hospitality management student at Ole Miss, believes the hotel could not only boost Oxford’s economy but also help promote local shops and restaurants.
“I think the more people are able to stay near the Square, the better,” Williamson said. “That way people can really see what Oxford is all about.”
As stated in last week’s article in The Oxford Eagle, commissioners still have not signed onto the project and will not until Michael Crosby, an architect with Humphreys & Partners of Dallas, brings more information and visual aids.
