By Jeanine Caprino Zimmer, Publisher
The Lenhart Hotel’s new owners, Bill and Jill Curry are confident that a soft opening can be expected this coming this coming winter.
They state they will have a temporary alcohol license in time for summer 2027 where you can enjoy the front lawn with a beverage and learn more about the phases to open within that year.
I sat down with Bill and Jill Curry from Pittsburgh and they expressed the same frustration shared by the public on the delay of the opening.
“I cannot give you an exact timeline”, states Bill, “but I can assure you, it will happen.”
The public’s excitement has been interlaced with a growing concern with the changing projected opening date.
Their offer was accepted in 2020, but the sales contract was not finalized until 2022. In February 2023 they received a loan from the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Association and in the summer 2023, they received a New York State 1.9M grant from Empire State Development Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) program. Since this time, they have been planning. They have been approved by the Village of Bemus Zoning and Planning Boards but are still awaiting the building permits before they move construction forward; they are expecting to have the permits soon.
Jill expressed concern about putting a timeline to anything asking for the public to compare it to a house project and noting there is always the unexpected. Bill gave for example; he had no idea it would have taken him six months to complete the engineering plans.
Jill is familiar with the area having spent summers in Chautauqua with her family and eventually working at the St. Elmo in college. Her whole professional career is in hotel hospitality. Bill’s background is in restoration of old buildings. He was looking specifically for a hotel to buy that he could put his hand at restoring and Jill would enjoy running. They first had their eye on the Spencer Hotel in Chautauqua Institution but couldn’t come to terms with the owner, their realtor, Richard Benedetto of Real Estate Advantage, who mentioned that The Lenhart in Bemus Point was for sale and the Curry’s knew that was exactly what they wanted to do.
Bill and Jill love the community of Bemus and the opportunity to bring an historic landmark into the new century. All the rooms will be renovated complete with modern conveniences including each having their own bathroom. Their plans include a heated outdoor pool behind the main hotel, rooftop dining accessible by elevator, expanded banquet facilities and patron restrooms. The beloved lobby bar “The Lamplighter” will have its keepsake name.
In total cost of the purchase and renovations of The Lenhart is reported at $9.9M.
You can keep up to date on the progress on The Hotel Lenhart’s new website: www.TheHotelLenhart.com.