New Statler owner Mark Croce has finished a symbolic gesture as he starts to bring the majestic building back to life. Boards installed in February 2010 on the building’s ground floor have been removed. Croce continues to have talks with state and city officials on financial assistance needed to stabilize the building. Thus far, neither have committed any funding for the project.
Croce’s Statler City, LLC is prepared to spend millions to renovate the interior of the first three levels to “relight the bottom” of the building. Croce says reopening the basement, first floor and mezzanine areas for retail, office and banquet uses would allow for a revolving infusion of cash to pay for recurring building expenses. The building’s upper floors are expected to be a mix of uses and will be renovated as the market dictates. Events are already being booked for the building.
The first order of business is making immediate repairs to the Statler’s roofs. Attention will then turn to exterior masonry work, right-sizing the building’s heating and air conditioning systems, renovations to the interior spaces on the first three levels, and installation of a new commercial kitchen.
Croce is determined to have enough work done to host National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference events in the building in October. If masonry repairs aren’t completed by the time the Trust rolls into town, Croce plans to install scaffolding around the building so that the temporary fencing can be removed and the streets and sidewalks reopened.