Duane Hicks
The Makabi Inn on Scott Street will open its doors again this spring.
New owner Eldon Mose said the renovations there are moving along steady.
“It’s coming along,” he noted. “Rooms are all painted up and flooring’s going in the bathrooms.”
New fixtures should be put in the bathrooms this week.
“She’s moving right along,” added Mose. “We’re tentatively shooting for an April 1 opening.”
Mose said the business still will be called the Makabi Inn and will have a restaurant—a popular feature for patrons.
He noted the inn will have very much the same layout, although the public washrooms for restaurant patrons will be on the main floor, not the upper one.
The inn has 24 rooms.
The Makabi Inn was shut down in late April last year by order of Fort Frances Fire Chief Frank Sheppard.
The former owners had failed to pay their electricity bill, and there was no power to the building and the fire alarm system was inoperable.
People staying there were forced to used candles and propane stoves for heat.
Mose said renovations on the inn began in June, and in that time it has received a total overhaul.
“We gutted it inside, we threw away furniture—everything,” he remarked.
“It was stripped.”
When asked about a grand opening in April, Mose chuckled, “I haven’t got that far to think about that yet.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford the ribbon when I get to the opening,” he laughed.
As for the former Voyageur Inn, it recently was purchased by local businessman Mark Howarth, who also owns Leon’s Home Furnishings Superstore here.
Howarth said he intends for the building to be used for several purposes.
“Our first step is to fix the upper level up into apartments,” he told the Times.
“Then, one of the main reasons for purchasing the motel was for more warehouse storage for our furniture appliances and mattresses for our Leon’s franchise,” added Howarth.
“So we will use the lower level for that once we have completed the renos.
“Then, we have that great Kettles Restaurant that everyone is missing, so all we need is some energetic person to lease it and get it open again,” Howarth noted.
“Just about everyone I talk to mentions that.”
The Voyageur Inn closed last March after a fire set by an individual damaged the business and it had to be evacuated.
But Howarth said thanks to good work by firefighters, the fire was “really well-contained,” with damage mostly confined to the main staircase and soot in the hallway.
In addition to new stairs and cleanup in the hallway, the upper level will be remodelled completely, starting with a maintenance-free peaked roof and metal siding.
“We were fortunate to have all the middle rooms have joining rooms, so I believe we will be making them into a real nice apartments using the one room as a big bedroom and the other as a kitchen and living room,” Howarth explained.
The apartments will get new windows, flooring, ceilings, kitchens, bathrooms, and closets. And with putting new kitchens in the rooms, all the electrical will have to be updated, said Howarth.
As far as a time frame, Howarth will be ordering the trusses and windows this week—and hopes to have them put up by the end of March.
“So hopefully, if all goes well, we should be done sometime by the end of summer,” he remarked.
Howarth said he and his wife, Twyla, “are extremely excited about all the possibilities this building will bring to the downtown area.”
He pointed out all of the new windows will be the same size as before, providing “a great view and a very bright living area.”
“There is plenty of parking, as well, and best of all is the location,” he added.
If anyone one is interested in renting apartments, leasing the restaurant, or setting up office or retail space, contact Howarth at 274-2944 (days) or 274-5763 (evenings), or via e-mail at mhowarth@jam21.net
Meanwhile, the new owner of the Nugget Motel (formerly the Mid-Town Motel) hopes to be open for business this spring.
Having moved here from Vancouver Island, Byeong Kim (although most people call him “Kim”) bought the building and has been renovating it since November.
