Baton Rouge landmark hotel sold

Once a local landmark, the Bellemont Hotel fell into disrepair throughout the years. Though it appeared to have closed to guests, it might have still played host to events such as gun-and-knife shows in its Great Hall. The property, on Airline Highway between Greenwell Springs Road and Winbourne Avenue, sold Friday for $525,000, according to representatives of Stirling Properties and Coldwell Banker One. The hotel had 305 guest rooms, while the Great Hall conference center comprised 32,000 square feet, according to a sales listing. The site is about 18 acres, says Pam Coxe, the selling agent along with Debbie Accardo of Coldwell. “This place has history that’s unbelievable,” says Coxe, noting that she’s been trying to sell the Bellemont for perhaps 13 years. In that time, entropy took over. “That’s total neglect,” she says. Dottie Tarleton, vice president with Stirling and the listing agent for the property, says, “We used to have our college sorority and fraternity formals over there. The hotel has deteriorated over the years.” The hotel played host to a first-responders clinic after Hurricane Katrina, and Ron Paul made a presidential-campaign stop at the Great Hall in January 2008. The site certainly looks worse for wear in an entry in the blog Abandoned Baton Rouge, which noted moldy carpet in the lobby and a collapsed roof and fallen chandelier in one area in May 2008. In September 2008, The Advocate reported that a man living at the hotel was beaten to death and found in his room, while another resident was arrested in the killing.—Todd R. Brown