The St. James Hotel. Once a jewel in the Queen of the Black Belt’s crown has become a symbol of dysfunction and an example of what happens when government attempts to compete with private industry.

The hotel, which is indeed the heartbeat of downtown Selma, was once a shining example of what can happen when a community comes together to invest in a project that can benefit everyone. It was beautiful. It was where you wanted to stay when you overnighted in Selma. Now it’s a mess.

I have a long history with the St. James Hotel. Before I moved to Selma in 2006, I used to visit Selma in the mid-90s to work with the staff at The Selma Times-Journal. When I was here, I stayed at the St. James. I loved the historic feel, the ambiance, the rooms overlooking the Alabama River, the restaurant and bar. In a nutshell, it was Selma. Beautiful, inviting, friendly.

In 2006 when I accepted the publisher’s position at the newspaper, and before my family joined me in Selma, I again chose the St. James because of my good memories there. What I found was both familiar and unfamiliar. The familiar part was the linens, circa 1997. The unfamiliar part was the filthiness of the building. The room was dirty, old coffee still in the coffee pot, and the bathroom… I won’t elaborate as I expect some of you are reading this over breakfast.

Needless to say, I spent one night there, then, sadly, made reservations at another local hotel.

I expect many people have had the same experience as me, which is disappointing. What’s even more disappointing is to watch as the past two city administrations have bungled what was an enormous gift from the community.

The last 10 years have been a litany of bad decisions and excuses, but mostly bad decisions, and city officials are to blame. Now the majority of the council has voted to sell the St. James, which had appraised for $900,000, for $100,000. While the details have not been finalized, the developer who wants to buy it has said he will invest $4.5 million to renovate it. It sounds good on paper, but so have the past deals the council has brokered on behalf of Selmians for the hotel.

With any transaction, the devil is in the details, and those details have yet to be finalized. Will this decision be yet another in the litany of bad decisions the council have made regarding the St. James? Only time will tell, but it can’t get any worse, can it?