NATCHEZ — Eola Hotel officials say the establishment is not being sold despite a moving truck being stationed outside Friday.

Eola manager Ron Brumfield said he received calls from residents throughout the day asking if the hotel had been sold.

Those calls, Brumfield said, likely stemmed from employees moving items out of the hotel into a moving truck parked outside on Pearl Street.

Brumfield said the items belong to owner Bob Dean of Baton Rouge who is moving some of his personal antiques to a different property.

“The hotel has not been sold, and it’s not closing,” Brumfield said. “There are some items he wanted to move to a property somewhere else, and we’re going to do some work in a couple of areas where the stuff is being moved from.”

Brumfield said the historic downtown hotel has been listed for sale for five years, but that he was not aware of any current prospective buyers.

“He would love to sell it, but I don’t know personally of any deals going on right now,” Brumfield said. “I know the real estate agent has shown it over the last year, but nothing I know of right now.”

Glenn Green of Paul Green & Associates, who is handling the sale of the property, said there has been “some interest” in the property, but would not comment on a specific buyer or if a sale was being finalized.

In Natchez, Dean owns the hotel, the Natchez Eola Guest House and the Prentiss Club.

Dean restored the 131-room hotel back to its original elegance after purchasing it in 1998.

The Eola has operated as a hotel under the same name since opening in 1927.