New California lifestyle hotel nears completion, readies for summer opening
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Four Brothers ready for summer season
The Four Brothers Drive-In in Amenia, New York, will open for the season on Friday, May 10. The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one. Two luxury camping trailers, each with an attached wooden deck and fire pit, make up Hotel Caravana, and each offers a different fun vibe. The playground might be enlarged in the coming seasons, and perhaps an old-fashioned arcade added for retro amusement, John Stefanopoulos said. The community that surrounds Four Brothers remains important to the Stefanopoulos family as they offer substantial summer employment opportunity, Stefanopoulos added. He said that a goal is to contract locally for business needs, such as musical entertainment and advertising.
The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.
John Stefanopoulos, the second generation helping to guide the Stefanopoulos family’s recreational complex, brings a deep understanding of hospitality and business sense in support of the multi-faceted enterprise, begun in the 1970s, that is now a mainstay of the town of Amenia, located on a corner in the heart of the commercial district. He paused for an interview on Friday, April 26.
Two luxury camping trailers, each with an attached wooden deck and fire pit, make up Hotel Caravana, and each offers a different fun vibe, Stefanopoulos explained. The larger of the two, offers a California lifestyle, retro to 1967, although its modern where it should be. It can sleep four.
The smaller Caravana sleeps two and offers a lifestyle of the future dating to about 2041. It’s a brand-new Airstream, Stefanopoulos noted. It also has an attached deck with firepit.
“We get a lot of New York City people,” Stefanopoulos said when asked what sorts of people are apt to be attracted to Hotel Caravana. “They want to experience the upstate life,” he added. The idea of sitting out on the deck while watching an actual drive-in movie appeals to them, as does room service offered by the restaurant.
The lobster rolls prepared by the Snack Shack, are served on brioche hot dog rolls, either Maine-style or Connecticut-style, and the lobster can be topped with caviar. Four Brothers version is praised by customers for the generous portion of lobster in each, and the price is competitive.
Caravana guests may book for a single night, or maybe two, or even longer, taking advantage of the bicycles to pedal along the nearby rail trail, a local amenity, Stefanopoulos noted.
“We make our guests feel like movie stars,” Stefanopoulos said of the hospitality. And, if they like miniature golf, it is just a few steps away from their Caravana deck.
Asked how and why the Caravana idea began, Stefanopoulos recalled that as the drive-in theater grew in popularity, people were traveling from greater distances away. The last film of the night might start at midnight, he said, so the idea grew that Four Brothers might be able to offer an accommodation to stay the night.
In addition to Caravana, Four Brothers offers an alternative of two or three tent camping sites.
Future plans may include a third Caravana, Stefanopoulos said. Also, there is a giant mastodon skeleton, presently in storage, that should be on display, he said.
“It’s pretty big,” Stefanopoulos added.
The playground might be enlarged in the coming seasons, and perhaps an old-fashioned arcade added for retro amusement.
The community that surrounds Four Brothers remains important to the Stefanopoulos family as they offer substantial summer employment opportunity. Stefanopoulos said that a goal is to contract locally for business needs, such as musical entertainment and advertising. The drive-in also schedules occasion fundraisers to benefit local organizations, including the Amenia Fire Company and area schools.
Cleveland’s new Kimpton hotel, The Schofield, readies for March debut after dramatic renovation (photos, video)
Cleveland’s new Schofield Hotel will be the city’s first Kimpton hotel. The 14-story building was designed by prominent architect Levi Scofield. The hotel will open next month at the busy intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 9th Street. It will have 122 hotel rooms and six suites, in a dozen different configurations, in Cleveland’s Public Square.. The building, also known as the Euclid Ninth Tower, in 2009: The building had a new steel and enamel exterior added in 1969; the 1969 exterior was painstakingly removed in a recent renovation. The first seven floors of the building house 122 hotel. rooms and 6 suites; the hotel is sponsoring a Facebook contest to name the hotel’s early page (the hotel’s Facebook page is scheduled to open next week) The hotel is located in the historic building’s former office building, which was once home to the Cleveland Post Office, which closed in the 1950s. It is located on the corner of Public Square to the east, and Lake Erie to the west.
It’s a uniquely Cleveland moment: Standing inside the century-old, 14-story building designed by prominent architect Levi Scofield while admiring his better-known work, the memorial to the city’s Civil War veterans on Public Square.
The Schofield Hotel — which bears the name of the man who designed it (with the H, dropped by Scofield, added back in) — promises plenty of Cleveland-centric experiences when it opens next month at the busy intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 9th Street.
Dozens of workers are in their final, frenzied weeks of construction, preparing the 1902 structure for a second debut after a dramatic five-year, $50-million renovation.
It will be the city’s first Kimpton hotel, a popular brand of boutique properties known for their eclectic, casual style.
The Schofield building, also known as the Euclid Ninth Tower, in 2009: The building, with an original brick facade, had a new steel and enamel exterior added in 1969. The 1969 exterior was painstakingly removed in a recent renovation.
Among the hotel’s only-in-Cleveland features:
* Local craft beer in the mini-bars.
* A complimentary guitar-loaner program from the front desk (acoustic only).
* Art that celebrates the city’s history, including prints of vintage matchbooks made in Northeast Ohio, and carpeting that pays tribute to the city’s garment industry.
“The whole premise is to live like a local,” said Jeff Andrews, director of sales and marketing for the Schofield. “Even if you never leave the building, I want you to know like you’re in Cleveland.”
The project, delayed by both financing issues and efforts to secure historic preservation tax credits, has been in the works for years, shepherded by a group of local investors including Brian Intihar, vice president of CRM Real Estate Services.
“It’s been a labor of love for a long time,” he said. “Every person who has been involved in the project from the beginning is pleased, happy and proud.”
He added, “Any time you get into historic work, you don’t always know what you’re going to find.”
The trickiest and most dramatic part of the project: The removal of a steel and enamel facade, which was placed on top of the building’s original brick exterior in 1969 in an effort to update and modernize its look.
“The building had been hidden for so many years,” said Kathleen Crowther, president of the Cleveland Restoration Society. “The before and after is startling. There are a few miracle projects in Cleveland and this has got to be one of them.”
Whole sections of the brick and terra cotta exterior were in such poor shape they had to be recreated, she said. The decorative cornices and columns are pristine now, restored to their Victorian-era elegance.
The interior of the former office building has been completely rebuilt, as well, though with the exception of the original marble and iron staircase, it lacks the historic details of the exterior.
On the first floor: a trademark Kimpton-cozy lobby, called the Living Room, where guests can gather for the brand’s complimentary wine hour while paging through American Splendor comic books by the late Harvey Pekar.
Also on the ground floor: Parker’s Downtown, a restaurant featuring modern American fare, set to open in April; 3,000-square feet of banquet space; and a retail store, with a to-be-determined tenant, according to Andrews.
The first seven floors of the building house 122 hotel rooms and six suites, in a dozen different configurations offering alternative room sizes, bed types and city views.
The 1,200-square-foot presidential suite, on the seventh floor, offers dramatic views on three sides: Playhouse Square to the east, Public Square to the west and Lake Erie to the north. (The hotel is sponsoring a contest to name the suite; check the hotel’s Facebook page early next week.)
The style of the rooms: clean and contemporary, with light-wood furniture, high-thread count linens, granite-and-glass bathrooms and numerous playful elements, including desk lamps with movable letters to create personal messages.
The upper seven floors are home to 52 apartments, priced from $1,450 a month for a one-bedroom unit to $7,250 for three bedrooms. About 75 percent are rented, according to Marcie Gilmore, marketing consultant for CRM Companies. Among the amenities of Schofield living: in-room dining, valet-parking, grocery delivery and more. “It’s like you’re living in a hotel, but you’re in an apartment.”
And on the eighth floor: a fitness center shared by residents and overnight guests.
Both the hotel and apartments are expected to open in March, though an exact date hasn’t been set, said Andrews. Hotel room rates will vary widely, starting at about $150 per night.
The Schofield is one of three high-profile hotel projects scheduled to open downtown in the next few months, ahead of the Republican National Convention in July (though all three were well under way before the city landed the RNC in the summer of 2014). Opening in April: The Drury Plaza Hotel, under construction in the former Cleveland Board of Education building on East 6th Street; and in May, the Hilton Cleveland Downtown, the 32-story hotel towering over the adjacent Cleveland Convention Center.
The Kimpton project has been closely watched in part because the brand has such a loyal following. Founded in 1981 in San Francisco, the chain takes credit for launching the boutique-hotel movement in the United States.
Bought by the InterContinental Hotels Group in late 2014, Kimpton, with 59 hotels in the United States, is on an expansion spree, with eight new properties scheduled to open this year.
Despite its new corporate ownership, Andrews said the Kimpton brand is committed to retaining its casual, quirky style, with yoga mats in every room, complimentary bike rentals for guests and extremely pet-friendly policies.
In Cleveland, that style includes embracing the local culture, said Andrews.
Schofield employees, he said, will be encouraged to recommend to guests their favorite Cleveland attractions and activities, both well-known and off the beaten path — including, perhaps, Levi Scofield’s Soldiers and Sailors Monument just down the street.
Miller’s Landing in Ridgefield: As polluted factory cleanup nears completion, riverfront development is coming
The old Pacific Wood Treating plant stood for 30 years on the edge of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Most of decontamination work is complete, and the site is ready for a boutique hotel, restaurants, stores, offices and perhaps condominiums. The project is ready to open for business with the state’s blessing. The last big piece of the puzzle will be construction of a sweeping overpass over the BNSF mainline tracks to give free access to the site. The site lies on the Lower Columbia River Water Trail that extends for 146 miles from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean.. When the cleanup is complete in a couple of years, the price tag will be close to $90 million. When it went bankrupt in 1993, it was the biggest employer in the area in the 20th century, employing about 100 men. The port is half the way there; it needs another $5 million in grants to build the overpass, executive director Brent Grening says.
Artist’s rendering of Ridgefield’s future Miller’s Landing Development.
(Courtesy of Port of Ridgefield)
It’s been 15 years since Brent Grening was hired to engineer the cleanup of the rusting, contaminated, abandoned old Pacific Wood Treating plant site that sprawls along the Lake River at the Port of Ridgefield.
Grening, 53, smiled on a recent fall day as he surveyed the work he’s completed as executive director of the port. California poppies bloom in a 41-acre grassy meadow where the plant stood for 30 years, pressure-coating posts and beams with toxic preservatives and polluting the ground, the river and Carty Lake on the edge of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
Most of decontamination work is complete, and the site now called Miller’s Landing is ready for a boutique hotel, restaurants, stores, offices and perhaps condominiums on upper floors.
“This is a success story not only for the environment and the community, but the Washington State Department of Ecology, which took a leap of faith on a small port and stuck with it through moments when it was difficult,” Grening said. “And we got it done. What you are seeing is the end of remediation.”
The cleanup has cost $70 million so far, most of it state money, he said. When the cleanup is complete in a couple of years, the price tag will be close to $90 million.
Brent Grening, executive director of the Port of Ridgefield, with Port Commissioner Joe Melroy and his wife, Barbara, at the center of the Miller’s Landing site.
The project is ready to open for business with the state’s blessing.
“Basically, the site is all buttoned up and contained so no one is exposed to contamination,” said Craig Rankine, site manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Some contamination remains, Rankine said, under the cover of fill dirt.
“We are not done, but we have gotten a big share of it done. The development can occur at any time. We are thrilled to get it back into use, instead of being a cesspool.”
Cleaning and covering
For months, crews pumped steam 40 feet down into the ground using an innovative protocol, eventually delivering up a total of 25,000 gallons of toxic liquid and 1.5 million pounds of toxic sludge. The port also dug up and removed 5,392 cubic yards of contaminated soil, cleaned contamination from 144 million gallons of groundwater, removed the old storm water system and put in new drains and piping.
The site then was overlaid with a two-foot coat of topsoil: 120,000 cubic yards of clean dirt taken from construction of the new Interstate 5 interchange at Ridgefield.
The layer of fill put a containment cap on any remaining deep contaminants, Rankine said. It also raised the site out of the flood plain. Now the area is ready for public use and suburban development, an oasis on a gentle stream a mile upstream from the Columbia River. The location is also less than two miles from the mouth of the Lewis River. The entire river frontage lies on the Lower Columbia River Water Trail that extends for 146 miles from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean.
The future Ridgefield development will include a riverside park, open space and docks next to the existing floating community at Ridgefield.
The last stages of dredging the river are coming next summer, along with further treatment of a small site east of the development. The last big piece of the puzzle will be construction of a sweeping overpass over the BNSF mainline tracks to give free access to the site.
“Once they get the overpass in there and we get an unencumbered access, it will open the site up,” Rankine said. “Those trains are flying through there: the freights, Amtrak. They don’t slow down, and there are a lot of them.”
The overpass will cost another $10 million, Grening said. The port is half way there; it needs another $5 million in grants to build, he said. Once the overpass is built, traffic will no longer enter the site at two existing rail crossings. Instead it will flow into the site without stopping, high over the tracks.
“Something ugly”
Back in the late 1800s, boats landed here. Early in the 20th century, a shingle mill planed siding and shingles for houses, employing about 100 men. When Ridgefield Veneer Company, then operating on the site, merged with Pacific Wood Treating Corp. in 1963, it was the biggest employer in the area. After Pacific went bankrupt in 1993, just $1.8 million in insurance to contribute to cleaning the site.
Left behind were several hundred ex-employees and a site contaminated with copper chromium arsenic, creosote and pentachlorophenol.
Brent Grening, executive director of the Port of Ridgefield shows off the site and a drawing of its future, including the new Division-Mill Street overpass crossing the BNSF tracks, and stands on the edge of the 41-acre Miller’s Landing.
Most of the pollutants were contained in a 4-acre underground plume that threatened the neighboring wildlife refuge. Cleanup of the site began in 1995 and only today is near completion.
“We are beginning to tell this story,” Grening said. “This area has been a problem, something ugly, a headache. Nobody knew it or had walked it until this summer when we opened up the path. It’s been over 100 years since anybody besides a worker has been allowed to walk in here.
“By far, the majority of people in town didn’t even know Carty Lake existed, right next-door here. But we had our grand opening in August, and the people can walk it, run it, and discover that Ridgefield does have a waterfront.”
Port Commissioner Joe Melroy and his wife, Barb, were at the site one recent day to people-watch. A couple of boys threw down their bikes and idly lobbed rocks into the river, while dog-walkers, hikers, runners and nature lovers passed by on the new paths.
The couple loves to amble down and see the activity, they said, just for the fun of enjoying the scene.
“Many people who didn’t live here in those days when the mills were there don’t see this development as any big deal,” said Joe Melroy. “They say, ‘Well, so what, you’ve got a big field.’
“Well, it’s a very big deal,” Melroy said. “Not only do we have a field that is nice and green and clean, but it’s also out of the flood plain, so we can develop this property. It’s of great value to the community.”
The name “Miller’s Landing” is in honor of all the millworkers who labored on the site, Grening said.
“This is the great time now, just being a port commissioner,” said Melroy, who once did business with Pacific, renting a warehouse from the company to store materials for his metal roofing business, Onsight Roll Forming. He has retired and now enjoys helping with renewal of the port.
“I love seeing families out here enjoying the waterfront and the trail,” he said, pointing to two boys throwing rocks in the river, their bicycles dumped beside them.
“It’s satisfying,” Grening said. “It’s wonderful to see.”