by Bea Peterson
The very latest word on Wednesday from site owner Alex Koks and builder Craig Kennedy was that work should begin on the long vacant Dougherty’s corner on Thursday, March 29. Koks and Kennedy met with AOW Associates, Inc. of Albany, a construction management service, last Wednesday to iron out the final details.
[private]Kennedy said they are still waiting on permits and clarification of a few changes before construction begins. On Thursday and Friday, however, he expects to be working on the fencing and cleaning up the site in preparation for major construction.
Koks said they anticipate the project will take three to four months to complete. There could be weather delays and/or construction difficulties, but it is possible the new building will be finished in July.
When completed the building will have a small apartment for a hotel manager, a handicapped accessible guest room and a small restaurant on the first floor and hotel rooms on the second and third floor. Last year Koks envisioned the restaurant would serve nice classic foods, as Dougherty’s did before the fire. At first he would prefer to serve just beer and wine.
The Fire
In March 2006 the historic building at the corner of Main and John Streets burned to the ground. At that time the building housed Dougherty’s Restaurant. The adjoining buildings all suffered water and smoke damage.
With much hard work, those buildings were restored. The Dougherty hole remained. Almost three years later property owner Bryan Pello had the lot filled in and grass planted.
A few months after that, Koks bought the lot, and, soon after, the soil was removed and the gaping eyesore returned.
Since then Koks has worked diligently to find financing for the small hotel/restaurant project he envisioned. For a time the depressed economy was a stumbling block in finding financing, but finally a deal was made. The Village loaned Koks $10,000 from its Community Development Fund toward bank closing costs. The Village will be reimbursed the $10,000 and Koks will be reimbursed a good portion of his investment through a Restore NY grant of almost $600,000 the Village received shortly after Dougherty’s burned. Koks has put up several personal properties as collateral for the bank loan. He is pleased that the project is finally underway.
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