It featured an indoor atrium with bar and patio, a swimming pool that was both inside the atrium and outside in the sunshine, landscaped interiors, rooms with balconies both indoor and outdoor.
There were conference rooms, small meeting rooms, a big ballroom, and a restaurant that offered a variety of food and drink through the procession of various managements. It was the place where parties were held, along with comic book shows, corporate meetings, business conventions, chamber of commerce activities and fashion shows, receptions, business fairs, class reunions, anniversary gatherings, and the annual banquets of a large number of community service organizations.
Those are but memories now, faded sights and sounds of Covington's residents and visitors enjoying its facilities during some of the busiest growth years of west St. Tammany. The Holiday Inn/Clarion Inn was part of it all, one of the first modern first-class overnight accommodations in the area. Memories now and memories forever.
Plans are at work to convert it to some other use, it seems, so it will be interesting to find out what the future of that location will be.
Here are some pictures of the work demolishing the building. Click on the images to make them larger.
The Way It Used To Be
Photo source: Yelp
