Local history, products fill new Flying Fifty Hotel
Published 10:10 pm Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Flying Fifty Hotel co-manager Paul Knetter, left, chats with Cullman Savings Bank president and project visionary John Riley, right, in the new boutique amenity’s upstairs common area. Themed around locally sourced artifacts and ideas, the hotel features historic Cullman flourishes at every turn — including the original exterior avian logo of the old Cullman Savings & Loan Association building, mounted on the wall to Riley’s right. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Bespoke local touches abound at the Flying Fifty Hotel, even in the smallest of details. Moulton-based Red Land Cotton provided the hotel’s bath towels, while Cullman textile manufacturer HomTex supplied the guest rooms’ bed sheets. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
A view inside The Steeples Suite at the Flying Fifty Hotel, complete with photographs and locally painted artwork highlighting the Cullman area’s many historic churches. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Challie Knetter, left, and her husband, Paul, helped to create the Flying Fifty’s historic local concept, and will oversee day-to-day operations at the new upscale hotel. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Members of the original Flying Fifty of Cullman get a place of prominence in the hotel’s upstairs common area, presented in an artistic photo collage that captures a pivotal moment of self-determination in Cullman County’s history. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
For the past two years and counting, curious Cullman locals have been spying an eye-catching development project in the high-traffic vicinity of U.S. Highway 278 and 4th Street S.W. Located just a narrow alleyway away from Rumors Deli, the new-construction project created a ton of local speculation as pieces of its evolving structure filled in, offering incremental clues about its eventual purpose.
Buoyed by plenty of late-stage advance publicity (and some telltale outdoor signage and artistic cues), the new place finally has a purpose — and a name. Envisioned and curated by longtime Cullman banker John Riley — and filled past the brim with local history, creativity and forward-looking staffing talent — the Flying Fifty Hotel shared its first indoor look at the new second-floor space where it’s set to welcome its first wave of guests beginning in early May.
Named as a commemorative nod to the four dozen local leaders who went to extraordinary lengths, three generations ago, to usher Cullman’s economy into the diversified modern age, the Flying Fifty will occupy the entirety of the new building’s spacious, high-ceilinged and balcony-wrapped upper level. Cullman Savings Bank — where Riley’s the president and CEO — will locate its fifth Cullman County branch in a portion of the lower level, with the bottom floor’s remaining independent commercial tenants set to be revealed at a welcoming reception event later this week.
Cullman residents Paul and Challie Knetter are the hotel brand’s married-couple co-owners, as well as the managers of its day-to-day operation.
Riley, a self-confessed history enthusiast, credits the Knetters with conceiving the “Flying Fifty” theme for the hotel, which comes to life in authentic and locally sourced thematic flourishes throughout the amenity’s common areas as well as its eight guest rooms — each of which bears a locally inspired name and decorative motif (The Frankweiler Suite features museum-encased traditional German costumes and local photos of Cullman Oktoberfests past, for instance; while The Steeples Suite celebrates the area’s rich faith-based tradition alongside a panoramic balcony view of downtown Cullman’s many church spires.)
The Flying Fifty’s earliest weeks will involve a soft opening, as the new business’ operators acquaint themselves (and early guests) with the rhythms of running the first upscale hotel amenity to be located in the downtown area since at least the 1950s, when the original members of the Flying Fifty began nudging Cullman County toward a more broad-based economy.
In oversized murals as well as in the smaller ornamental details that await around seemingly every corner, there’s plenty of guest-facing local culture on display at the hotel. Its guest demographic is expected to be drawn from an eclectic mix: out-of-town business recruits, events-based tourism, industrial clients calling on the county’s many internationally based accounts and even locals in search of a conveniently upscale stay-cation.
But beyond the enriching cultural eye candy that hotel guests can readily see, the amenity’s regional roots run far deeper — deeper, in fact, than most visitors, over their short stay, likely will ever know.
“We really wanted to incorporate local businesses and ingenuity into the products that we use,” Callie explained, seated at the hotel conference room’s live-edge wooden table which itself — like the guest rooms’ complementing live-edged wooden bed frames — was crafted by Cullman wood worker Paul Moss.
“Our bed sheets are manufactured by HomTex, for example, and our mattresses are made at the Serta plant in Cullman,” she continued. “Our bottled water is produced at Blue Spring Living Water in Blount County. Our towels are from Red Land Cotton in Moulton and the actual list of local products and people we’ve engaged with is longer, even, than that. We just wanted to use Alabama products to continue to showcase Cullman and, to share what’s so special about this area’s quality of life.”
