Lighthouse Inn auction planned Oct. 5 draws last-minute tourists

New London — More than two dozen people toured the Lighthouse Inn property on Wednesday for a last look of what their money could get them at next week’s auction.

JJManning Auctioneers hosted the tour for prospective bidders of what has long been a beloved local landmark in anticipation of an absolute auction next week. City officials hope the auction is the last in a series of attempts to get the property back into private hands, developed and onto the tax rolls.

Justin J. Manning, president and chief financial officer of JJManning, greeted visitors at the front entrance to the century-old building on Guthrie Place. Visitors were asked to sign a waiver before entering. Flashlights and protective masks also were offered, since mold has taken over some parts of the main inn.

Manning expressed confidence the 4.2-acre property with three buildings and 51 total rooms would sell at the auction scheduled for 2 p.m. Oct. 5 at City Hall.

“Any restrictions that existed before are gone. It’s not a question of if it will sell, it’s a matter of how much it will sell for,” Manning said.

As opposed to past efforts to entice developers to invest in the restoration of the inn and perhaps gain some financial benefit from its sale, Wednesday’s auction has few strings attached. The city even has agreed to waive the $37,000 utility lien.

The city’s last attempt to develop the inn came with the naming of a prime developer. A development agreement never was completed, however, after the chosen developer announced a failure to reach an agreement on rights to nearby Guthrie Beach.

The new owner will be bound by existing zoning regulations. The inn can be restored and likely reopened as an existing use, though it is in a residentially zoned area with restrictions on new construction. The city also will not allow a nonprofit to come in and take the property off the tax rolls, according to Economic Development Coordinator Ned Hammond.

While Wednesday was advertised for potential bidders, some curious New Londoners — at least one posing as a contractor — managed their way in.

Nearby residents Mary and George Kientzy said they longed for the return of the inn, a place where three of their children worked, friends stayed during the summer and they can recall any number of memorable special events.

“It’s a tragedy,” Mary Kientzy said. “We’ve had so many good times here. Everyone in New London has had some special occasion here. We’ve been here since the heyday of the Lighthouse Inn and there was not any more elegant place to take someone.”

George Kientzy said it will take someone with deep pockets and vision — someone, he said, like Charles Royce, who is best known for the $140 million historic reconstruction of the Ocean House, a hotel and resort in Westerly.

The Lighthouse Inn, which closed in 2008 and was acquired by the city in 2013, was built in 1902 by steel magnate Charles S. Guthrie and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was designed by Boston architect William Ralph Emerson with a landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in New York City.