A 142-room Columbia hotel that provides temporary housing for in-need individuals and families is about to get an $850,000 makeover.
Welcome Inn, a transformative project that is restoring an old hotel into an affordable housing complex, was recently awarded $850,000 from the Boone County Commission. County officials on Friday gathered at the hotel to learn more about the plans for the project.
The money was part of a $6.6 million package of federal American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief funds the commission allocated for community betterment projects.
“It’s hard to put into words, but I’m very grateful and very humbled to receive this funding,” Welcome Inn owner Kel Beal said. “This gives legs to initiatives that we were hoping to accomplish in the next 20 years, but now we can start immediately.”
The funding, which was approved in April, was the second and final wave of ARPA relief funds provided by the county commission. This second wave emphasized affordable housing throughout Boone County.
Welcome Inn received the greatest amount of money from this second wave. Additional organizations that received funding were Habitat for Humanity, Central Missouri Community Action and the Columbia Housing Authority.
“It just made sense for an existing facility to provide a place to live for so many people and so many kids,” Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick said. “But we’re also thinking about what can be done to help them improve and expand their mission here.
“Whether it’s someone staying here for multiple years or just a week, if you can provide that security to ensure that individuals are in a safe place, that’s so important,” Kendrick said.
The building, located just north of the Interstate 70/Providence Road intersection, has been falling into disrepair since the 1990s. Once a Holiday Inn, it underwent management changes multiple times before Beal acquired the property in 2022.
“I had a vision for a missional or redemptive sort of real estate, something that would breathe life back into places and help those who have need,” Beal said. “It was a long process, but we had some luck and we were able to grow it into something positive.”
Up until now, the project received most of its funding through external organizations such as Love Columbia and Society of St. Vincent De Paul. However, with the added support of the Boone County Commission, the inn can go through with a variety of renovations while emphasizing safety and cleanliness.
“The goal is for us to use the funding to open up future avenues for services for our residents, to increase the quality and number of rooms we have available, and to grow our partnerships within the community,” Beal said.
Within the building are 142 private rooms, as well as a fitness room that is slated to be converted into an additional bed space. A significant portion of the commission’s funding will go toward redeveloping these rooms and preparing them for individuals and families.
Additionally, Beal plans to remodel the multiple conference rooms located within the hotel. These renovations ideally will provide external service organizations a space to connect directly with both the residents and staff of the inn.
The building’s large kitchen and attached restaurant space will undergo changes as well. Welcome Inn has plans to partner with food-based service organizations to provide job training and hands-on experience in a variety of fields.
“This is a community of people that need attention and care,” Beal said. “We wanted to make that happen in a scaleable way; a way that could pay the bills, a way that could give back to the property, and in a way that could have generational change outcomes for families.”
