A Dreamer With Passion Builds a Masterpiece

Who but a dreamer would think of building a $10+ million boutique hotel in a town of 19,000, out in the middle of nowhere? Greenwood, MS which lies on the banks of the Yazoo River in the heart of the Mississippi Delta was once a wild riverboat town. It boasted 19 saloons on the riverfront. It hadn’t changed a lot since those days, until the founder of Viking Grills decided to redo its downtown.

Only someone like Fred Carl, who dreamt of and developed the high end residential grill market, would ever dream of such a thing. I’ve found many such dreamers who were passionate about their hometowns in my travels. I’ve often said that one person with passion, like a Fred Carl, is better for a community than 50 or 100 people who “are just kind of interested.” Fred Carl is not “just kind of interested.” He is a dreamer and doer.

He bought the dilapidated historic Hotel Irving which had become a rooming house and several other buildings in the downtown area of Greenwood, spending millions rebuilding it and opening The Alluvian, a 50 room boutique hotel. Carol Daily, the president of his Viking Hospitality Group told me, “We opened in May, 2003. Conde Nast called it one of the top 100 hottest new hotels in the world. The architect was from Mississippi, as is all of the art. We got it mainly from Delta artists with a theme of earth, water and sky.”

“Viking uses the hotel on Sunday, Monday and Tuesdays for their training groups. That is usually the downtime for most hotels. Viking holds training programs 35 weeks/year. They fly into Memphis and spend Saturday night at the Peabody. Then they make their way down to Greenwood, which is 3 hours away. We are selling a luxury product and want to get them into the luxury experience.”

“We have a library of 350 books written by Mississippi writers. We are working on a library of Delta music also.”

They are plugged into the Delta and are doing a lot to promote everything Delta. The Alluvian is training “Delta Tour Guides”, doing oral histories, holding cooking classes, and promoting tourism of the Delta.

Their oral history of the restaurants of Greenwood offers an interesting view of the city’s immigrant families’ creations. Lusco’s was a depression era Italian immigrant’s dream and is still run by the 4th generation of the family. Giardina’s, opened in the late 20s, has been recreated in the Alluvian. The Crystal Grill, almost a century old, was where we had lunch. It was quite an experience! Also in the oral history are Mattie’s (soul food); Pearl Johnson (hot tamales); Cotton Row Club; and Spooney’s Bar-Be-Que.

Greenwood is one of the most interesting small towns I’ve visited in my travels. It’s clear to see the impact that a dreamer like Fred Carl can have on a community. Oh, that every town could have such a person!