Weekapaug Inn News
May 4, 2011
SPRING UPDATE ON THE WEEKAPAUG INN RENOVATION
Hello Neighbors
I am pleased to report that we have finally begun the physical process of renovating the Inn and the bathhouse. We are months later than I had hoped because of the time necessary to receive all regulatory approvals, but that process is now behind us and we are thrilled to begin the real work. This is the part I love.
The delayed start will mean that the reopening of the Inn will be probably at the end of summer 2012 rather than spring 2012. The lost time has been well spent with design and engineering, so I am optimistic that construction can proceed quickly and efficiently, without time-consuming changes. Renovating the bathhouse is estimated to be a fourteen-week project whereas the Inn renovation should require fourteen months.
BATHHOUSE
Last Labor Day weekend when I presented a status report in the Chapel, I heard loud and clear that the continued eyesore of the old bathhouse was really testing your patience. In response, we undertook to expedite the renovation of that building over the winter and spring with the hope that we could surprise you with a handsome new building when you return this summer. I hope you find it to be handsome but it will still be a work in progress for most of this summer. The building was demolished yesterday and carted away to a recycling plant today. We are striving to finish the large-scale carpentry and site work as soon as possible, with the intention of having only finished carpentry, electricians, and plumbers on site in July when our kids return to the Yacht Club. You should be pleased to know that we have hired Tim and Mike O’Neill to reconstruct the bathhouse. Recall that they completed Jim and Susie Wilson’s house on Spray Rock on schedule a year ago. They are our best hope to get this done quickly and with minimum disruption to the neighborhood while the work is ongoing.
We conceive of the new bathhouse as an asset to both the community and the Inn guests. Gone are 100+ small changing rooms and in their place is an internal deck with four changing rooms each with its own shower, toilet, and sink for our Inn guests. There will also be a large open space with views across the harbor to the Inn, for yoga classes, lunch tables, etc.
Around the exterior of the bathhouse will be about thirty jumbo lockers to be rented by the community, with access 24 / 7. These lockers are not large enough for you to change into your bathing “costume” but you will be able to stow your umbrella, beach chairs, cooler, boogie board, etc. We hope that by leaving your gear in your locker you can leave your car at home and bike or walk to the beach. The bathhouse will also provide an outdoor shower, a public bathroom, and storage space for lifeguard gear.
Even as many of us have become exasperated with the decrepit bathhouse structure, it has been an important expression of the texture of Weekapaug. Per the conservation agreement with the Fire District / Foundation for Conservation, we are required to confine the new bathhouse structure to be within the footprint and maximum height of the former structure. The shape and surface of the old structure were distinctive as well, with weathered vertical siding, red doors, and an absence of windows. All of this is being retained in our new structure. Below is a sea gull’s view from above the Yacht Club parking lot, showing the locker doors around the outside and the interior deck with changing rooms. The new building looks even more familiar from the ground.
THE INN
Today the old tennis court was demolished with the fencing on its way to the Chariho little league fields that were destroyed in the spring 2010 floods. They will be rebuilt with our fence. Removal of the Pond Room and the shed on the north end of the Inn will begin on Thursday. Site work is beginning and is extensive with the need to connect underground electricity, geothermal well piping, sewage mains, tanks, drain fields, etc. Our site has plenty of boulders that can impede our progress. This is noisy work that requires big equipment so we want it done before you come back, I hope.
Soon the exterior of the Inn will be cocooned in staging to facilitate the renovation of the building shell – windows, roof, siding, shingles, etc. It is essential that this be completed before winter so interior work can continue during the winter. We also want to complete the pool enclosure, sidewalks, etc. so we can reseed the lawn by late September. During July and August, we have instructed the construction manager to delay exterior work until 9 am so you are not awakened by our project. We will do our best to limit construction sounds during the day, but we cannot be silent. Let us know if our noise annoys.
The program for the renovated Inn is largely unchanged from what we described last fall. We are creating a much smaller Inn with rooms that are comfortable by modern standards, and we hope to operate the Inn for as much of the year as possible. Attracting weekend visitors and business meetings during the offseason has been a surprisingly successful formula for the Ocean House and we think it should translate to the Inn as well. The Inn will have just 27 guest rooms (about half the prior count) plus four two-bedroom apartments in the north and south wings. We will keep these apartments in our rental pool rather than listing them for sale, but if you “show us the money” you can probably buy one.
By eliminating the dining room annex and Pond Room we are attempting to create a more intimate dining room and Sea Room parlor, with more windows and a greater feeling of space and location. The reduction in room count is greater than the reduction in public space so we intend that you will be able to get a table in our dining room or space for a meeting despite the full occupancy of the Inn. I reiterate that we want the Inn to become Weekapaug’s parlor, for meetings, late night tapas, and bridge games.
PROGRESS LEADS TO NEW CHALLENGES
I have spent the last eighteen months with lawyers, architects, and engineers and we have finally prevailed and can now begin renovation. Although the next fourteen months will be about construction, I must now shift my attention to the actual running of the Inn. Many questions emerge. What do we want to be when we grow up? Who will manage this? What is the character of our restaurant? Will we offer three meals a day with our rooms (aka American Plan)? Will we have a “club” of our neighbors who will enjoy preferential access to our pool, gym, bathhouse, lockers, restaurant, rooms, etc.? We are fast moving to the point where community input becomes key. If you are interested in these questions, corral me this summer and let me know what you think. Chuck’s and my shared objectives are to create a great community asset and to manage it in a way that it will sustain itself financially. That is such a broad mandate that it can be accomplished in many different ways. Maybe you should become involved. We would welcome that.
Lang Wheeler
SPRING UPDATE ON THE WEEKAPAUG INN RENOVATION
Hello Neighbors
I am pleased to report that we have finally begun the physical process of renovating the Inn and the bathhouse. We are months later than I had hoped because of the time necessary to receive all regulatory approvals, but that process is now behind us and we are thrilled to begin the real work. This is the part I love.
The delayed start will mean that the reopening of the Inn will be probably at the end of summer 2012 rather than spring 2012. The lost time has been well spent with design and engineering, so I am optimistic that construction can proceed quickly and efficiently, without time-consuming changes. Renovating the bathhouse is estimated to be a fourteen-week project whereas the Inn renovation should require fourteen months.
BATHHOUSE
Last Labor Day weekend when I presented a status report in the Chapel, I heard loud and clear that the continued eyesore of the old bathhouse was really testing your patience. In response, we undertook to expedite the renovation of that building over the winter and spring with the hope that we could surprise you with a handsome new building when you return this summer. I hope you find it to be handsome but it will still be a work in progress for most of this summer. The building was demolished yesterday and carted away to a recycling plant today. We are striving to finish the large-scale carpentry and site work as soon as possible, with the intention of having only finished carpentry, electricians, and plumbers on site in July when our kids return to the Yacht Club. You should be pleased to know that we have hired Tim and Mike O’Neill to reconstruct the bathhouse. Recall that they completed Jim and Susie Wilson’s house on Spray Rock on schedule a year ago. They are our best hope to get this done quickly and with minimum disruption to the neighborhood while the work is ongoing.
We conceive of the new bathhouse as an asset to both the community and the Inn guests. Gone are 100+ small changing rooms and in their place is an internal deck with four changing rooms each with its own shower, toilet, and sink for our Inn guests. There will also be a large open space with views across the harbor to the Inn, for yoga classes, lunch tables, etc.
Around the exterior of the bathhouse will be about thirty jumbo lockers to be rented by the community, with access 24 / 7. These lockers are not large enough for you to change into your bathing “costume” but you will be able to stow your umbrella, beach chairs, cooler, boogie board, etc. We hope that by leaving your gear in your locker you can leave your car at home and bike or walk to the beach. The bathhouse will also provide an outdoor shower, a public bathroom, and storage space for lifeguard gear.
Even as many of us have become exasperated with the decrepit bathhouse structure, it has been an important expression of the texture of Weekapaug. Per the conservation agreement with the Fire District / Foundation for Conservation, we are required to confine the new bathhouse structure to be within the footprint and maximum height of the former structure. The shape and surface of the old structure were distinctive as well, with weathered vertical siding, red doors, and an absence of windows. All of this is being retained in our new structure. Below is a sea gull’s view from above the Yacht Club parking lot, showing the locker doors around the outside and the interior deck with changing rooms. The new building looks even more familiar from the ground.
THE INN
Today the old tennis court was demolished with the fencing on its way to the Chariho little league fields that were destroyed in the spring 2010 floods. They will be rebuilt with our fence. Removal of the Pond Room and the shed on the north end of the Inn will begin on Thursday. Site work is beginning and is extensive with the need to connect underground electricity, geothermal well piping, sewage mains, tanks, drain fields, etc. Our site has plenty of boulders that can impede our progress. This is noisy work that requires big equipment so we want it done before you come back, I hope.
Soon the exterior of the Inn will be cocooned in staging to facilitate the renovation of the building shell – windows, roof, siding, shingles, etc. It is essential that this be completed before winter so interior work can continue during the winter. We also want to complete the pool enclosure, sidewalks, etc. so we can reseed the lawn by late September. During July and August, we have instructed the construction manager to delay exterior work until 9 am so you are not awakened by our project. We will do our best to limit construction sounds during the day, but we cannot be silent. Let us know if our noise annoys.
The program for the renovated Inn is largely unchanged from what we described last fall. We are creating a much smaller Inn with rooms that are comfortable by modern standards, and we hope to operate the Inn for as much of the year as possible. Attracting weekend visitors and business meetings during the offseason has been a surprisingly successful formula for the Ocean House and we think it should translate to the Inn as well. The Inn will have just 27 guest rooms (about half the prior count) plus four two-bedroom apartments in the north and south wings. We will keep these apartments in our rental pool rather than listing them for sale, but if you “show us the money” you can probably buy one.
By eliminating the dining room annex and Pond Room we are attempting to create a more intimate dining room and Sea Room parlor, with more windows and a greater feeling of space and location. The reduction in room count is greater than the reduction in public space so we intend that you will be able to get a table in our dining room or space for a meeting despite the full occupancy of the Inn. I reiterate that we want the Inn to become Weekapaug’s parlor, for meetings, late night tapas, and bridge games.
PROGRESS LEADS TO NEW CHALLENGES
I have spent the last eighteen months with lawyers, architects, and engineers and we have finally prevailed and can now begin renovation. Although the next fourteen months will be about construction, I must now shift my attention to the actual running of the Inn. Many questions emerge. What do we want to be when we grow up? Who will manage this? What is the character of our restaurant? Will we offer three meals a day with our rooms (aka American Plan)? Will we have a “club” of our neighbors who will enjoy preferential access to our pool, gym, bathhouse, lockers, restaurant, rooms, etc.? We are fast moving to the point where community input becomes key. If you are interested in these questions, corral me this summer and let me know what you think. Chuck’s and my shared objectives are to create a great community asset and to manage it in a way that it will sustain itself financially. That is such a broad mandate that it can be accomplished in many different ways. Maybe you should become involved. We would welcome that.
Lang Wheeler