- A new Airbnb option was recently added in the downtown area.
- The city's previous Synagogue was left unused for years, but new owners have worked to preserve the building to serve the community in a different way.
- Watch the story to get a look at the calculated transformation that revitalized a historic space.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Not only is Temple Bethel a building historical but in the past it once held a sacred meaning to neighbors.
I took a look inside to see how the new owners have re-purposed the space to fill a void.
Neighbors are calling Temple Bethel a historical masterpiece.
The building has stood here since 1916.
All these years later, it's still in good condition and about to get a new lease on life.
James McMillan lives just down the street.
"It used to be an old church back when I was a kid growing up. I think it would be a good idea for an Airbnb,” said McMillan, Bainbridge neighbor. “ It will bring more tourists and more people to the community… contribute money back into the community."
And that's exactly what's happening.
The building's new owners Mark Harrison and John Noel told me about their plan to preserve the history of this place while opening it up for a new purpose: a place for visitors to stay.
They did this by preserving artifacts from the Jewish faith like the memorial wall and the organ.
"They asked if they wanted us to remove it and we said no we want it to stay,” said Noel, president of Reynolds Development Company.
Harrison owns the Bainbridge Development Group.
"There were no spaces here at all. The bedrooms and the kitchen you see. The living room.. All of these areas were just open space,” according to Harrison.
The past owners have welcomed the new Airbnb option expressing gratitude that space once again serves a purpose as the building hadn't been used for several years.
"Commissioner Palmer and the synagogue folks who said..we trust these guys to do the renovation and to honor what we want to see out of it,” said Noel. "Many ideals but all of them premissed on saving the historic structure."
An idea McMillan says he's glad to see in his community.
"It means a lot because Bainbridge is changing so much a lot of things that were once here are no longer here,” McMillan.
I checked the Airbnb listing for this place.
It offers 2 bedrooms and two and a half baths along with a kitchen and WiFi.
