09 December 2005

bob dean hotel bentley fiasco

this continuing saga only captures our interest because of the hotel bentley. bob dean is something else. he closed the hotel bentley down a year ago this week this is after looting it of its original antiques and artwork which according to the town talk he wasnt supposed to do because it had something to do with his bank loan mortgage.

how he gets away with all this stuff is beyond us because the media has been covering it.
anyway, the bentley has been closed before we remember when we were kids we would pass by the hotel and it was closed then. strangely we have only been inside the bentley just a few times, once we were out partying with some friends and got a wild hair to rent a suite at the bentley. the room (what little we remember of it) was nice. the other time was to apply for a front desk clerk job (we didnt get it) but we did visit the gift shop and found a nice print of a pelican which we had framed and gave to our mother its still hanging in her living room.

so now mr dean is angry with the alexandria establishment because he claims that fema approached him about housing katrina evacuees there. if the truth was known it was probably mr dean who approached fema. when the historical society ladies and all that crowd found out they went nuts. lol general quarters general quarters! and that scotched that.


joe betty sterkx photo courtesy noles frye
that reminds us about what happened a few years ago about 97 or 98 the city of alexandria, the parish or state one of those began to pave the streets downtown and in the garden district. now you have to understand that the original streets are built out of bricks. we dont know but probably back in its day this was the most advanced road and street building technique known. however now 100 years later brick streets that were great for horse and carraiges are a major enemy of modern cars. the bricks have buckled, pot holed, everything you can imagine. our neighbors the hauks have made a fortune aligning front ends lol. - and more power to them because they are the best and dont take my word for it come to alexandria and ask around for yourself. so what happened? well the morning the road pavers were to begin this lady named joe betty sterkx shes a big preservation maven etc., she gets her lawn chair out and goes and sits down in front of the machinery. our luck would have it they would start in her very neighborhood. the cops and the media came and it was a big deal. we still have brick streets downtown.

dean is supposed to be selling the bentley and has been for years and years but would you shell out a few million dollars for something this guy has had his dick skinners around? we wouldnt either. we have also heard that mr dean owns or has interests in nursing homes and with the recent st rita's nursing home tragedy you can see what kind of people own nursing homes in louisiana. we believe we would just shoot our loved one and hope they would do the same to us rather than have to go to a bob dean nursing home: PLAQUEMINE MANOR NURSING HOME, INC., MAISON DE'VILLE NURSING HOME, INC., RACELAND MANOR NURSING HOME, INC., MAISON DE'VILLE NURSING HOME OF OPELOUSAS, INC., MAISON DE'VILLE NURSING HOME OF HARVEY, L.L.C., ST. ELIZABETH'S CARING, L.L.C., this isnt meant to be a complete listing of mr deans nursing home interests; you may search the secretary of state corporation data base for mr dean by clicking here.

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for another interesting view of this story read "Dean's Side of the Story (Or Step Into His Shoes For Just a Second)" from lamar white's blog cenlamar.

added 4:13 pm cdt sunday 13 april 2006

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anyway, there are two stories about the bentley below:

Owner applies to demolish Hotel Bentley

By Billy Gunn
bgunn@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6378

The owner of the Hotel Bentley has filed a permit application to have the historic inn demolished, according to documents received from Alexandria's engineering department.

Dayne Freeman, an attorney for Bentley owner Bob Dean, said she could say only that Dean had authorized filing the permit.

Larry Mathews, city engineer, said his office is trying to determine who the local members of a historic preservation district commission are.

"This is the first time this has ever happened," Mathews said, and explained that commission approval is one hurdle Dean would have to clear to raze the downtown hotel that's been closed for almost one year.

Originally published December 7, 2005
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btw looks like alexandrians took a page from the blanco playbook in the committe forming...

City to form historical preservation commission

The Alexandria City Council decided to begin considering appointments to the Historical Perservation District Commission in a specially called meeting Friday.

The meeting was called in response to an application from Bob Dean to demolish the historic Bentley Hotel. The commission will review that application and make recommendations to the council.

"I think Mr. Dean got exactly the reaction he wanted," councilman Chuck Fowler said. The council should "weigh all options the city has," he said.The commission, which was created by not staffed by the city council many years ago, will consist of 15 Alexandria residents. Eight of those members will come from specific civic organizations. The remainder of the commission will be composed of any city resident with an interest in historic preservation.
Representatives of local preservation groups submitted lists of names for the council to consider on Friday. The deadline for forming the commission is Jan. 15.

For more details of Friday's special meeting, see tomorrow's Town Talk.

Originally published December 9, 2005

heres channel 5's take:

City Council Meeting
By: DProcell
Staff
Dec 9, 2005

A special Alexandria City Council meeting is set for today to discuss the efforts to demolish the historic Hotel Bentley in Downtown Alexandria.

If you are interested in attending, the meeting starts at 11:15 AM at City Hall. Council members will be looking at the makeup of the historical preservation district commission as well as the demolition application.

Since word got out Wednesday, Hotel Bentley owner Bob Dean wants to destroy the hotel, historical activists have been up in arms.
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