Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A Resurrection Is Coming

(ANI) --- As a proverbial resurrection from the ashes, The Montford Arms hotel is emerging from its tomb created by decades of changes, lost records, and a inheritance snarl that served to hide the building from history, owners and city fathers.  Now, however, the tax confusions have been straightened out, the developer has cleared the deeds and titles and the old beauty looks set to lead the new district development in that corridor of Old Town. 
 

 Once an entrance into a private parking garage, it was boarded up in the 1960's and was uncovered in the recent collapse of the false fronts used to give the façade a unified appearance in the mid-1970's.




 What will news cameras uncover as they enter the area locked off behind locks such as this?  The mystery will be solved soon.




Sunday, February 8, 2015

Local Developer Makes Historic Find

Fredicksville Times (IPS) - - A piece of history once thought lost for good has been found and, as the saying goes, right under our noses.  Blackstone Corporation  began their work in the 2700 block of Creston Avenue yesterday and as they removed the modern façade erected in 1962 another false wall collapsed revealing that the building long known as the Templeton Apartments was really The Montford Arms that closed in 1932.  Since the address in no way matched any previous known locations for the hotel the discovery had everyone scratching their heads. The best suggestion was that at some point in the clerical records, all hand written in the time period, someone had dropped the "2" and "Creston" somehow became "Stone Ave."
 
Despite decades of disrepair, architects from Blackstone are excited.  "The bones are strong because the money that went into building the hotel made sure it was sturdy.  So far we have found an incredible amount of marble and other quality materials. She may be a little wrinkled now but she is going to be a beauty."