Downtowner Motor Inn

The Downtowner Motor Inn was a 5-story, 120 room motel located at 2224 5th Avenue North in downtown Birmingham. It was constructed before 1963 on the corner of 23rd Street. The restaurant at the Downtowner was known as The Gallery. In 1965 it offered a complete Thanksgiving dinner of roast Vermont turkey with cashew nut stuffing and giblet gravy for $1.95. The bar was called the Iron Gate Lounge.

The motel was later re-branded as the Best Southern Inn, part of the National 9 Inn chain.

On October 31, 1995, the body of Michael Propes, 45, was found in one of the units by a maid. This was later ruled as Birmingham's 109th homicide of that year.

The building was demolished in 2004 to make way for a parking lot.

References

• Metro News Briefs (November 2, 1995) "Body found in motel was of Texas man". The Birmingham News
• Sanborn Map, Birmingham 1969 vol. 1, Sheet 20

External links

• National 9 Inn on Emporis.com