OCEAN CITY, Md. -- A local non-profit is looking for grant funding to help restore the Henry Hotel to its former glory. The Henry Hotel Foundation is looking for $250,000 to begin the restoration process.
Up until the mid 1960's, the Henry Hotel was one of the few places in Ocean City where Black people were allowed to stay. The building serves as a reminder to the towns dark history and now, it is in need of repair.
Bunk Mann, a local historian, told WBOC up until the 1960's, much like the rest of the country, Ocean City was a highly segregated town.
"Blacks were not welcome in the hotels, they were not welcome in the restaurants and they weren't even welcome on the beach," said Mann. "There was even a time back in the 1920's and 1930's they weren't allowed on the beach anywhere near the boardwalk."
It is why the Henry Hotel, opened up in 1927 as Henry's Colored Hotel, was a refuge.
"It's not Ocean City's finest hour," said Nancy Howard with the Henry Hotel Foundation. "But it happened and you can't sweep it under the rug."
The Henry Hotel Foundation, the organization looking for a quarter million dollars in grant funding from the Maryland Historical Trust and African American Heritage Preservation Program, would like to make sure the hotels story continues to be told.
Howard said the project will be done in phases, with phase one, an evaluation of the building already complete.
"Phase two will be just the foundation and lifting, literally lifting the building to build the foundation and putting the building back," said Howard.
Phase three will fixing up the exterior and roof and the fourth phase will be restoring the interior. Ultimately the plan is to turn the hotel into a museum and learning space.
Before anything happens, Howard said they are waiting to hear back on whether or not they will be awarded the grant.
"We'll know in December, so next year we'll do that first phase[foundation] and then we have to raise more money, so it's going to take I would say four or five years for this to play out," said Howard.
Possibly helping the Henry Hotel Foundations case is local support at the county level. County Commission President Chip Bertino sent a letter of support that reads:
"On behalf of the Worcester County Commissioners, I would like to extend our enthusiastic support for efforts to restore the Henry Hotel, which is of great historic significance to Worcester County. In 2007 the commissioners installed an African American Heritage panel on the hotel's property that informs visitors and passerby about the site's prominent historical significance. Formerly known as "Henry's Colored Hotel," the three-story, wood-shingled structured, was erected in the last decade of the 19th century and remains one of the oldest hotels in the city. More importantly, the Henry Hotel is the last remaining hotel that served black visitors to the ocean resort during the early to mid-20th century. Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basic and Louis Armstrong were guests of the Henry Hotel in the days when black entertainers could perform in major hotel ballrooms, yet could not sleep in hotels. We thank you for your favorable consideration in awarding grant funds to restore this cultural landmark to its former glory."
Ocean City officials have also sent a letter of support.
"It has the full support of the mayor and city council, it is part of our history, we think it's an important part of what we have here in Ocean City and we want that story to be told," said Rick Meehan, the towns mayor.
When it is all said and done, Howard wants those visiting Ocean City to walk into the hotel and see what it looked like in the 20th century.
"I would like them to walk into a replica of what they would be walking into when Mrs. Bonner ran it as a hotel," said Howard.