Elgin still awaiting buyer
Staff writer
After spending three years restoring it and six years operating it, Jim Cloutier has spent nearly five months on the Elgin Hotel trying to sell it.
He said he wanted to retire and travel more, and didn’t want to be tied down to a business.
Cloutier said there have been “quite a few inquiries” into the historic building, but no one has emerged as a front-runner to land the property. Cloutier attached a $750,000 price tag to the 15,204 square-foot bed and breakfast, and enlisted J.P. Weigand & Sons Realtors of Wichita to sell the property, which has been on the market since March.
He’s only looking to sell to someone who would further the hotel as a Marion institution, and would not relinquish it to someone looking to demolish the building.
The main priority for the Elgin Hotel, Cloutier said, was adding a restaurant.
“That’s probably the biggest issue, it’d need a restaurant,” Cloutier said.
He said the Elgin has had one of its busiest spring seasons yet.
“Word is getting out,” Cloutier said. “We’ve had a lot of repeat customers.”