News Reports
Owner vows Manchester inn will rise from ashes
November 9, 2005
By Andrew McKeever Herald Staff
| Jerry Lavalley, the new owner of the Reluctant Panther,
a historic Manchester inn, is determined to rebuild the
lodging establishment and hopes to reopen next June. Photo: ANDREW MACKEEVER / RUTLAND HERALD |
The inn and restaurant went up in smoke Oct. 29, the victim of a faulty clothing dryer. The new owner, Jerry Lavalley, formerly of Southlake, Texas, has vowed to rebuild, and hopes to reopen June 1, less than eight months away.
"Everyone tells me that's an aggressive date, but I'm an aggressive person," he said. "I want to get a construction manager in here as soon as possible."
Debris is being cleared, and Lavalley hopes to reopen with the parts of the inn spared by the fire. Of the original 21 rooms, eight will be available for guests on Nov. 18, minus the restaurant, he said.
Plans for the new inn and restaurant that will rise over the site of the 150-year old structure that burned down, will attempt to evoke — but not necessarily replicate — the former inn, he said.
Some of the old building's features, like the narrow hallways and the doorways that measured only 5 feet 7 inches in height may be jettisoned. But returning guests should be able to feel a connection to the former building, he said.
Lavalley spent $3.28 million for the inn and restaurant, which he and his wife, Liz, purchased exactly one month before the fire claimed it. They had crisscrossed the country for 18 months looking for one just like it, he said.
Busy corporate executives who were leading whirlwind lives traveling frequently and working long hours, the two were in search of a lifestyle change. They considered a number of different business possibilities before opting to focus on country inns.
It came down to a choice between the Reluctant Panther and another inn in Mississippi, but Vermont won out.
But it wasn't just the inn and restaurant that won them over, he said.
"We fell in love with Manchester and the inn — it fell into perfect alignment," he said.
Liz Lavalley is still in Texas, but will be joining her husband this weekend. They have three children — one in graduate school, another who will be helping them run the business, and a 14-year-old who will be attending Burr and Burton Academy, he said.
Lavalley hopes to get a construction crew in shortly to begin the process of erecting a new building, along with repairing the damaged section that didn't have to be torn down. That part of the inn, though standing, suffered smoke and water damage and will need a lot of renovation as well, he said.
Then there's the sensitive question of whether the new inn will be repainted purple.
Until the fire, it was the only building in town that color, and village ordinances encourage a more traditional, New England look.
There have been discussions with town officials, but no decisions made yet, he said.
"What we want to do is what fits in with the whole village," Lavalley said, declining to divulge what he has in mind.
The Webcam will capture the ongoing construction and the images will be shown on the inn's Web site, to tell guests what is going on, said Sharon Burstein, a public relations agent working with Lavalley during the restoration.
Eventually, they hope to create a video out of it, she said.
"At one point, we thought we'd be making a drink called the Reluctant Panther, but now it looks like we'll be making a movie instead," she said.