93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
Columbia’s Welcome Inn near I-70 and Providence was the “Holidome” at one time and was one of the city’s most popular hotels, through about 1995 or so. It has fallen into disrepair in recent years, but now has a new owner whose passions are ministry and real estate.
Kel Beal tells 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable” that the 80,000 square feet facility has 142 units.
“Many of them still kind of feel like your 1980 hotel room. So the carpet still feels like that, the fixtures kind of feel like that,” Beal says.
Mr. Beal tells listeners the rooms now have a fresh coat of paint. He wants to put new carpet and furniture in each of the units. He also notes the bar for entry into his facility is much lower than anywhere else.
“There’s people across the board, whether they’re chronically unhoused and they kind of choose that. Whether there is substance abuse or mental health. Whether it’s just generational sort of poverty and the things that they’re going through,” says Beal.
Mr. Beal tells listeners that people are spending 30, 40 or in some cases 50 percent of their income on housing, due to rising costs.
Beal also says calls for Columbia Police services are down significantly, under the new ownership.
“Our hope is that it becomes much more about a medical response to issues if and when they have need, as opposed to (a) criminal response …so, yes,” Beal says.
Mr. Beal has been active in Columbia’s Affordable Housing Coalition, and his wife is the head of City Refuge, which helps refugees in the Columbia area. Click here to listen to 939 the Eagle host Fred Parry’s interview with Mr. Beal.
