Another Queen Hotel Comes Down in Stamford

STAMFORD   – While the former Westholm hotel at 136 West Main Street in the village of Stamford outlasted many of its Queen of the Catskills counterparts, operating into the 1990s, its final chapter has been written. It was demolished this week, one more nail in the coffin of the Turn of the Century Grand Hotel Era that put Stamford on the map as a popular tourist destination.

It operated as a hotel for 65 consecutive summers. It did not open in 1982 for the first time and was then sold to Pete and Linda Songdale and George Monser, who opened it as the Four Seasons Motor Lodge. They opened the dining room to the public. It was then sold to Richard Straus, who operated the bar at the Four Seasons for several years before its closing. It is now owned by a downstate woman who had hoped to renovate it into a boutique hotel and spa. 

Sitting idle for a number of years, the building began to deteriorate and was condemned by the village of Stamford Code Enforcement Officer a few years ago. The building made its way through the legal process with the village obtaining ownership recently which is allowing them to raze the building.

The Westholm was constructed in 1890 by H. S. Preston. It was billed as the hotel with the home atmosphere and friendly service.

It started as a boarding house with rooms for forty people. It had modern improvements for "the convenience and comfort of the refined and a better class of summer visitors. There are large rooms and many of them are connecting." It was billed as having "remarkably, pleasant" views of both mountains and valleys. It was located within a five-minute walk of the train depot, post office and as many as  five churches.  Cost to stay was $10 per week.

The grandeur of the former hotel on West Main Street in the village of Stamford is long past for the neighbors who say it was a health hazard, as well as an eyesore.

Mariellen Myers complained to the village that her allergies were made worse by the mold emanating from the building and the rotting piles of building material. She said she could document that it was literally making her sick and was costly for the treatment of her allergies. 

On Monday, Myers contacted her neighbors by phone and there were cheers all around as they learned the huge building was actually coming down. The two will now be able to see one another across the empty lot.

"I can't believe it's finally happening said Cathy Hait. We've waited such a long time."

"Our nemesis will be gone," said Myers on the phone.

LCP Construction, of Vestal, moved in late Monday afternoon to begin setup to start the demolition and by 7 p.m. the front portion was coming down. Village trustees approved a quote of $265,00 from LDP in addition to $15,000 to backfill and air monitoring at a quote of $3,000 on April 2.

"The village has been working on the removal of the Westholm buildings for the past five years. While it was obvious to everyone that the buildings needed to come down, the barrier was twofold: The owner of the building would not cooperate, nor even communicate, with the village and the cost of removal was far beyond what the village could afford," said Mayor Schneider. "As the issue became more pressing the village decided to condemn the buildings. The condemnation process provides  30 days for the property owner to make mandated repairs or demolition after which time, should the property owner not carry out these repairs, the village becomes responsible for the property. On March  25   the village assumed responsibility for the situation at The Westholm and secured a loan to have the buildings demolished. The demolition cost of approximately $285.000.00 will be assessed to the property owner's village tax bill,  however, the village assumes that we will have to foreclose on the property which will give us the ability to sell the lot for partial recovery of the tax lien. The village may also seek grant opportunities for recovery of the expense of demolition. This has been a long and complex process and should serve as a warning to others who wish to purchase real estate in need of expensive renovation without the necessary funds available to do so."