Potential Stockton Inn buyer drops plans for 780-seat theater, hotel
STOCKTON - Residents in one of New Jersey's smallest towns won a big victory when a developer dropped a plans to convert the quaint and historic Stockton Inn into a boutique hotel and a 780-seat amphitheater.
The decision by Avon Road Partners, a New Hope, Pennsylvania, firm, to drop the plan was announced by Borough Attorney Michael Butler during Monday's borough council meeting, according to a report by TapintoFlemington/Raritan.
Avon Road Partners' attorney sent an email to the borough on June 11 saying the firm was dropping its plans and not going forward with its purchase of the inn.
Butler also said, according to the report, that planning board did not have to continue with its investigation whether the inn property should be designated a redevelopment area.
The plan met with fierce opposition in the Delaware River borough of less than a square mile in area whose entire population of about 600 people could fit into the proposed amphitheater with room left over.
A organization, "Protect Stockton," was formed to fight the plan and more than $12,000 was raised in a gofundme page for legal expenses. Residents from neighboring municipalities, like West Amwell, also joined in opposition.
The news that Avon Road Partners was not purchasing the inn was met with relief on the organization's Facebook page.
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"It’s just wonderful to know that our little river town is going to remain the Stockton we have come to love," one person wrote.
The inn is listed for sale by Kurfiss Sotheby's International Realty for $2.75 million.
By a 5-1 vote on Feb. 8, the borough council voted to ask the planning board to investigate the possibility of designating the Stockton Inn site as a redevelopment area.
Avon Road Partners, whose holdings once included Monticello Raceway in the Catskills, New York, presented to the borough council in December a vision for the Main Street inn and restaurant, which closed three years ago.
Robert Berman, of Avon Road, told the council that for the hotel to be sustainable, the amphitheater was necessary because the hotel and the venue would be "playing off each other," according to the meeting minutes.
The firm's website also states "the anchor for the project is a 780-seat permanent amphitheater under roof (the pavilion) which will allow performances from May to October. Shows will include classical, classic rock, contemporary and comedy. The pavilion will host more than 40 events per season with plans for a soft opening the summer of 2022."
Mario LaGuardia, the project's architect, told the council that the present building is "fragile" and needs "TLC," according to the meeting minutes. He said the historic murals and woodwork inside the building would be preserved.
An inn has been on the site since the 18th century, and the current building was constructed in the 1830s.
A century later in the 1930s, the inn became a meeting place for the artistic community of New York City which flocked to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on weekends. The inn was the inspiration for the song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, “There's a Small Hotel (With a Wishing Well)," that was in the Broadway musical, "On Your Toes" and later sung by Frank Sinatra in the film, "Pal Joey."
Local historians also suggest that author Margaret Mitchel often stayed at the inn and wrote portions of "Gone With the Wind" there.
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Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.