[mcdude]

From the Laconia Citizen (4/7/11)

Weirs anxious to see building razed

LACONIA — As they get ready for what hopefully will be a successful 2011 tourist season, business owners in The Weirs are buoyed by the city's decision to seek the demolition of a burned-out building at the entrance to the resort area.

At next Monday's City Council meeting, Code Enforcement Officer Bill Stewart is expected to ask for permission to order that the Wide Open Saloon, which was heavily damaged in a three-alarm fire on Sept. 17, 2010 — be razed.

The building at 38 Endicott Street North is owned by Brandi Baldi, who was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

Built in 1886 as the Aquedoktan Hotel, the saloon first catered to visitors who came to The Weirs for reunions of Civil War veterans. With 30 rooms, the Aquedoktan was among the largest in the area.

Before becoming the Wide Open Saloon in 2010, the property had been known as the Weirs Beach Smoke House and was a popular destination for visitors, especially during Bike Week.

For several years, the Smoke House and its former, late owner Deb Tumey held a reception before the annual lighting of the Weirs Beach sign across the street on Lakeside Avenue. The lighting of the sign marks the unofficial start of the tourist season.

That lighting won't take place this year, at least not until the Wide Open Saloon is leveled and the lot it sits on is cleared, said Tom Pucci, the president of the Weirs Action Committee, which annually sponsors the sign lighting ceremony and uses the opportunity to promote The Weirs.

With the hulk of the Wide Open Saloon looming from just across the street, the WAC will postpone the ceremony, or light up the sign without fanfare, said Pucci.

"We feel it is in appropriate to kick off a tourist season with that as a backdrop," he said, adding that several people who last year visited his business, the Grandview Motel and Cottages, "asked if that building was taken down."

"I do hope that the city can move swiftly. There's a groundswell of support for the city to hold a business accountable that is at the crossroads of our tourist season. It's just something that is a hazard and an attractive nuisance."

Fred Clausen, owner of Proctor's Lakehouse Cottages on Weirs Boulevard, echoed Pucci's sentiments.

"I'm very happy with the direction the city is taking," he said. "I wish it had been done sooner."

Ward 1 City Councilor Ava Doyle, who with her husband David owns and operates Sun Valley Cottages, agreed that "everybody is concerned why it (the Wide Open Saloon) is still there. It's one of the entrances to The Weirs and with summer coming, we always try to put our best foot forward and it's certainly not our best foot at the moment."

Doyle, whose district covers most of The Weirs, said she's had a fire in her own business and "I can certainly understand what's involved in demolition and repair," adding, however, that she was "out of the loop" as to what unique challenges Baldi may be facing.

While they look forward to improvements at the Wide Open Saloon site, Pucci and Clausen are also looking forward to their respective opening days. The Grandview will open for the season next week; Proctor's on May 12 in time for the Winnipesaukee Fishing Derby.

"I think we're going to have a terrific season as long as the weather cooperates," said Pucci. Inquiries and reservations have been coming in from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and from across the U.S., he said, adding that some have been drawn by new nearby attractions, including the "Monkey Trunks" high rope and zip line at Funspot and the wilderness adventure park at Gunstock Mountain Resort, both of which are expected to be online this season.

An additional race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will also mean more visitors to The Weirs and the Lakes Region in general, said Pucci, who also thinks a New England-wide Mustang car show scheduled for the weekend after Labor Day will prove very successful.

Clausen said that after a "miserable" 2009, when the slumping economy hit his business the hardest, 2011 was shaping up to be incrementally better than 2010.

"We're about 10 percent ahead of last year's bookings which were about 10 percent ahead of the year before. It's looking like a good season, not a great season, but it's early."

Both Clausen and Pucci said that in addition to the weather, the other factor in whether they and their colleagues in the tourist trade have profitable seasons is the price of gasoline.

"People may come here and maybe not go further north," Clausen speculated with Pucci adding that "a lot of people do like that one-tank-of-gas-away vacation."

High gas prices several years ago prompted an increase in "stay-cations" — where people stayed at or close to home — and something similar could happen in 2011, said Pucci.

"Not that we're pleased to see the gas prices the way they are, but it's just a funny reaction. It could keep people from traveling greater distances."

Old image of the Aquedoktan Hotel

"The Aquedoktan, later known as The Eden Roc, became popular gathering spot for Weirs area businessmen as well as bands that played at Irwin's Winnipesaukee Gardens, including Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Count Basie. The bands stayed right there and would often close the bar on Tuesday nights and be there when it reopened on Wednesday,” recalls Lawton."

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