Summer opening planned

SARANAC LAKE - Interior construction and renovation work on the Hotel Saranac, starting with replacement of all 169 of its guest room windows, is expected to begin by the end of this month.

That's what Fred Roedel III of New Hampshire-based Roedel Companies said Wednesday night. Roedel was the guest speaker at a meeting of the Saranac Lake Women's College Scholarship Club. Roughly 50 people braved the double-digit-subzero temperatures outside to attend the meeting, held in the Saranac Lake Free Library's Cantwell Community Room.

Last month, Roedel told the Enterprise the project was behind schedule, but he said he still hoped to reopen the iconic Main Street hotel this spring.

Fred Roedel III talks to local residents about his companys renovation of the Hotel Saranac following a presentation Wednesday night to the Saranac Lake Womens College Scholarship Club. (Enterprise photo Chris Knight)

Asked by an audience member Wednesday night what the expected opening date for the hotel would be, Roedel said it will be closer to mid summer.

"We're honing in on that," he said. "Construction is going to begin in earnest by the end of this month. We're writing contracts now for our plumbing, electric, heating and air conditioning. As we hone in on that more and more, we're probably looking at July and August, somewhere in there."

That may seem like a quick turnaround, but Roedel said his company can put up a brand-new hotel in nine months.

"The great thing here is the structure is here," he said. "We're not moving any walls. When we begin work, they'll literally begin laying the electric, the plumbing and the mechanical right where it's going to go. So we think in a period of three to four months we'll be putting up paint, putting down carpet and getting ready for this thing."

The double-hung vinyl windows on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors will be replaced starting in two weeks, Roedel said. Special small tents will be extended outside the windows so workers can replace them from inside the hotel.

"They're all new windows," he said. "I'm looking forward to that day. I drove up here today from New Hampshire and fixed four windows where the window just fell out of the frame and the cold air was blowing through it."

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Summer opening planned