NATCHEZ

&8212; Owners and managers of some businesses near the city&8217;s convention center hotel site believe the benefits of the proposed development will outweigh potential parking problems.

City officials are reviewing three proposals for hotels across Canal Street from the Natchez Convention Center, including at least one that would take up the entire block but would include parking inside the facility.

John Holyoak, general manager of nearby Bowie&8217;s Tavern, said that once the hotel is built, he will have to monitor that business&8217; parking lot carefully to make sure hotel guests aren&8217;t parking there.

&8220;And do believe it&8217;s (the city&8217;s) responsibility to think out the parking issue,&8221; he said.

That said, however, Holyoak sees more positives than negatives so far.

&8220;The hotel&8217;s going to be good for business,&8221; Holyoak said. &8220;Besides, until I see the (hotel) plans, I won&8217;t really know how it&8217;s going to influence our parking.&8221;

Peter Trosclair, owner of Biscuits and Blues restaurant on Main Street, said he&8217;s not worried about how the planned hotel would affect his business&8217; parking.

&8220;I look at it this way &8212; during the Balloon Race, 25,000 people find a place to park. It may not be convenient, but it&8217;s a place to park,&8221; Trosclair said. &8220;And having more people in hotels on either side of me will be better for my business.&8221;

Representatives of Callon Petroleum, which uses part of the lot bordered by Canal, Broadway, Franklin and Main streets, couldn&8217;t be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

City Engineer David Gardner said it&8217;s not known how parking for the convention center itself would be handled once a hotel is built on the Canal Street site, now a dirt-and-gravel lot where center patrons park.

&8220;The city would like to see parking on site, &8230; perhaps some parking set aside&8221; by the hotel&8217;s developer, Gardner said. &8220;It just depends on which developer (aldermen) select, and it&8217;s really premature to talk about parking until they make that selection.&8221;

Meanwhile, Mayor Phillip West and city aldermen have set Jan. 9 as the date to conduct more in-depth interviews with the hotel developers.

&8220;That will be the Monday before our next aldermen meeting, though I&8217;m not sure whether we&8217;ll make a decision then,&8221; West said Tuesday.

Developers proposing to build hotels across Canal Street from the convention center have chosen not to give out details of their plans until after those interviews.

, and the state&8217;s Open Records Act protects documents giving such details from disclosure until one of the proposals is accepted.

However, according to a source close to the proposals, a 120-hotel proposed by Thomas J. Bauer of New Orleans would take up the entire block bordered by Franklin, Broadway and Main streets and have parking enclosed inside the building. Adding 80 more rooms at a later date is also a possibility, Bauer has said.His plans also include retail development on Main Street.

Glen Simmons, a Natchez native now in Atlanta, has said he plans a Hilton Garden Inn with 90 to 120 rooms. But his plans may also include a performing arts center and jazz/blues walk on Broadway, a city park where the Canal Street post office now stands and even a &8220;Huck Finn Lazy River&8221; near the river&8217;s edge.

Officials of Akshar LLC, whose principal is a doctor from El Dorado, Ark., have not returned calls seeking details of their proposed hotel development.