By Jeff Bobo

Published January 1st, 2009 Kingsport Times News

ROGERSVILLE — Kandy Hobbs knows from first-hand experience the economic impact that the Hale Springs Inn has on downtown Rogersville.

When the inn closed a decade ago, foot traffic declined significantly in the city’s historic downtown district, and as a result she was forced to close the antique and ice cream shop she operated about a block away from the inn.

“The closing of the Hale Springs Inn did have a negative impact on other businesses,” Hobbs said. “In fact I had two (downtown) businesses at the time and I ended closing one of them because of a decline in the tourist traffic.”

Hobbs largely attributes that decline in the closing of the Hale Springs Inn in 1998.

“Not totally, because we also had an economic decline at that time, but the first year (after it closed) I just watched a steady decline in foot traffic because the inn was our draw to the downtown area,” Hobbs said. “Not everybody stayed there, but they came to see it, and see the different shops and go antiqueing. Without those tourists we saw sales decline.”

The renovation of the 185-year-old Hale Springs Inn is scheduled for completion this coming June and should open as a restaurant and nine-suite hotel shortly thereafter. Before it closed in 1998 it was Tennessee’s longest continuously operated inn.

Aside from owning the Mountain Star Mall located downtown, Hobbs is also on the board of directors for the Rogersville Main Street program, which works to promote activities that bring people downtown. Over the past couple of years the program has launched new events, and with the upcoming opening of the inn, the next goal is to find occupants for the handful of empty Main Street storefronts downtown.

Hobbs said the Main Street program will likely initiate a study to determine what types of new downtown businesses will have the best chance for survival. She said the opening of the inn will likely make that real-estate more sought-after and can only improve the downtown Rogers- ville economy.

“It’s a little hard to project at this point because of the economic situation right now,” Hobbs said. “I don’t think it’s a cure-all, but we have done some things to get ready for the opening. We now have signage on I-81 designating us as a historic district to pull people off the interstate and into town.

“We have been promoting downtown with our cruise-ins, and for Halloween the Main Street program sponsors the ‘Trunk-or-Treat,’ which has been a huge success. The Hale Springs Inn is going to be a major addition to what we’ve got going on now, and I’m anxious to see what kind of impact it will have.”

Rogersville Chamber of Commerce Director Nancy Barker describes the Hale Springs Inn as the “crown jewel” of Rogersville.

“I guess the big buzzword now is ‘feet in the street,’ and with the opening of the Hale Springs Inn we can get some feet in the street and some more people coming into downtown,” Barker said.

She added, “Once we get the inn open it will present a lot of opportunities to bring a lot of different people in who will look at the community and see what a great investment it is, and encourage them to maybe open a new business downtown. We’re looking at a lot of opportunities for existing businesses to expand, and with the opening of the inn, you’re just going to draw a large and more diverse group of people coming in and looking at the community.”