CHARLEMONT — Friends and owners of the Charlemont Inn are attempting to raise $25,000 online, with the goal of starting repairs and getting the inn reopened this year — before the closed inn’s “grandfathered” public water designation expires, which make the building virtually useless commercially.
The fundraising is for “Phase 1” of renovations, with $5,000 needed immediately for replacement of the electrical system, starting with the kitchen, and $20,000 to replace the kitchen walls, floors and ceiling.
So far, at least $758 has been raised on the GoFundMe website, bringing the total donations for Phase 1 to $1,758, according to Dewey.
“We will be starting out as a catering kitchen, providing catering services for western Massachusetts,” co-owners Charlotte Dewey and Linda Shimandle say on the GoFundMe website.
“By June 1, it will be in the judge’s hands,” said Dewey, in a telephone interview. “If we can start the electrical system (repairs), it will bode well for us. We’re really fighting for the building here. It’s not about us — it’s about the building.”
According to Dewey, the Charlemont Inn has been in operation since 1775, with a few interruptions during World War II and for the past four years, while it has been closed and found out of compliance with health and building codes by the town.
In March, the Board of Health took the Inn to Housing Court, asking the judge to enforce the board’s correction order for violations, which included a leaking roof, deficient heating system, missing copper plumbing pipes and rotted ceiling joists, among other problems.
Health Board members pointed out that, if the inn didn’t reopen after five years, it would lose is “public water” designation and its access to a potable water supply — since the town doesn’t have a public water system.
Dewey said the Housing Court judge toured the inn on April 15. Dewey said she hopes to have the $5,000 for the electrical system replacement in time to have the work begin by June 1.
“If we aren’t successful in raising this funding, the town may be able to take control of the building and do with it as they please,” says the fundraising website.
According to Dewey, the Inn has been on the National Historic Register since 1987. Historical guests have included Mark Twain, Calvin Coolidge, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, according to Dewey.
Future fundraising renovation phases will be started online for other renovations. These renovations are to include: the porch dining room; renovations of the lodging rooms, with a few to be open in time for fall foliage season; and renovation of the tavern and main dining room in 2017.
Dewey said the inn — or at least part of it — must be open by Dec. 11 of this year, to maintain use of the “public water” well designation. “As long as we can open part of the inn, the (Department of Environmental Protection) will work with us,” she said. “As long as we’re open to the public in some form, we will be able to protect that.”
The website for donations is: gofundme.com. Then search under “Charlemont Inn.”