BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — John Winkler has been in construction for many years. He's 77 years old and said it's something he loves to do. He dropped out of college in 1969.

What You Need To Know

  • The owner of the Green Park Inn Hotel discusses its fate

  • The owner says they have plans to save a special room at the hotel

  • They tried to save the whole hotel but there was too much damage

“My father told me you need to find a trade or do something, so I started building houses. I didn’t know a thing about it. My first house Doc Watson painted for me," Winkler said.

He says his life changed after he became a Christian in 1984.

"The lord kept blessing me with things, and it kept snowballing ever since," Winkler said.

He is now an owner of the Green Park Inn Hotel.

"This place was dead, and we're going to bring it back to life," Winkler said.

The building, now wrapped on all sides by fencing and lumber piled high in front, has left many wondering about what's happening to this 135-year-old hotel. Winkler said his desire is not to tear it all down. Instead he wants to save what he can.

“We had plans to redo the whole thing. The more we dug into it, the worse it got. The foundations are crumbling underneath. It’s just a nightmare," Winkler said.

So Winkler and crew are taking it apart. The wings first is an attempt to keep the lobby.

"The steel structure will cover the whole thing so we can protect the lobby. We think it's going to be an engineering feat to do it," Winkler said.

They will be trying to save the lobby and the two rooms attached to it. They say these are spots that are near and dear to people's hearts.

"One reason we had to take a lot out of the lobby is to fire-proof it," Winkler said.

Rooms in the back will be taken out so the floor can be raised out of flood territory. The kitchen will be changed as well, but they say for every room they are touching, they are removing wood, chairs and whatever they can to keep memories from the old Green Park Inn alive.

He says everything needs to be fire-proofed, brought to code and made handicap accessible. When the restoration is complete he will have a 40-room hotel with a restaurant and space for weddings, 12 condos on the property and even eighth cottages for people to rent.

"In the 1920s there was cottages at the far end," Winkler said.

He said while you will see differences in the new hotel, they aren't trying to change too much. They will save the old light fixtures, use the old wood or paneling and mantels scattered around the hotel.

“This lumber we are saving is almost as old as America, and that just meant a lot to me," Winkler said.