92-year-old Eola Hotel being restored, updated in Natchez

NATCHEZ, Miss. — A noted hotel in a Mississippi River town is undergoing a transformation, years after closing.

The Natchez Democrat reports the Eola Hotel In Natchez shut in 2014 after a Virginia attorney bought the building. It is being remodeled into a 70- to 80-room hotel.

Project engineer Keyla Carney says people ask her to tour the building or simply peek inside.

The Eola was built in 1927 and has opened and closed several times. Carney says she has heard from people who remember playing in the building when they were children. She says some former employees believe the hotel is haunted by a woman in a white gown who walks the fifth floor.

Carney says the hotel registration desk will remain the same, as will interior columns and trim.

The Associated Press