| The development and restoration of the historical Stump Hotel in Grantsville, a project of the Calhoun Historical Society,
has hit a snag.
The hotel and adjacent lot is on the delinquent property list,and is scheduled be sold at auction on November 19th.
Society president Bob Bonar said it has been a long process, with lots of glitches, but the problems are being worked out.
"The tax problem will likely be resolved shortly," said Assessor Jason Nettles.
The contractor will be on site within three weeks, said Bonar. The outside renovation could be completed by
Thanksgiving.
Bonar said the contractor will remove and replace parts of the exterior, which is currently the focus of the project. "It will
have a tin roof and be restored with an original facade," he said.
The property between Main and Mill Street was donated to the Calhoun Historical Society by Dr. and Mrs. Charles
Albert Stump of Daytona, Florida.
The adjacent State Farm-Quality Shop building was purchased from Dr. Stump by the society for a family history
center.
The three delinquent parcels are $557.07, $691,56 and $443.59, totaling $1692.22 for unpaid 2002 taxes. The tax
notice appears in a legal ad this week, the back taxes being charged against the donor, Dr. Stump.
The tax problem could be connected to gaps related to the transfer of the property from Dr. Stump to the Historical
Society.
The real estate transaction was reportedly processed by Calhoun Realty Company. Jim Morris, who is vice-president of the society, has done much of the volunteer work on the project.
The deed was dated April, 2001.
Five months later a check for $47,500 was issued to Stump for the purchased building in October, 2001, but the recording
of the deed did not happen until June, 2002 - ten months later.
Four years have passed since the grant was issued.
Congressman Alan Mollohan, whose roots are in Calhoun County, obtained a $225,000 grant for the project, which was
soon cut to $208,000.
The Vandalia Society said this week the architect's fee, now exceeding $30,000, was not unusual.
The lowest bid for the renovation came in at $247,000, about $125,000 more than the amount in the grant account.
The architect was asked to down-size the project. Other bids were for $407,000 and $358,000.
Society president Robert Bonar said "The architect said he planned for $200,000 which was the amount
Vandalia told him. When we questioned him about not being aware of the account balance, he stated it was inappropriate
for him to know our finances. We were quite puzzled by that response." There is currently about $120,000 left in the
project account.
The local society completed the Stevens one room school relocation to the county park, and recently moved the Jarvis
country store from Oka to the park.
The Stump Hotel was built about 1885, and originally included a dozen or more rooms in a back section. The hotel had a
courtyard area with a dug well and a livery stable which fronted Mill Street.
The hotel was built by the first mayor of Grantsville, A. H. (Dick) Stump on land purchased from the town's founder,
Simon Stump. Stump, who was a carpenter and stone mason, operated the hotel for many years with his wife, Druscilla
Ball Stump, but but the mid-1900s the establishment was more connected with local poet and artist Nettie Stump and her
town character brother, Spav.
VANDALIA SOCIETY PRESS RELEASE
In late 1999, Congressman Alan B. Mollohan initially secured $225,000 in funds from the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development for a museum and family history center in Calhoun County. The funds, which were subsequently
affected by federal budget cuts to $208,000, were awarded to the Calhoun County Commission on behalf of the Calhoun
County Historical Society. In an October 1999 press release, Congressman Mollohan indicated that the historical society
and its president "should be commended for their work in preserving important elements from the county's past and for
their efforts to make genealogical records available to local citizens and visitors who are interested in researching their
family histories".
In early 2000, Vandalia Heritage Foundation was asked by Congressman Mollohan to provide technical assistance to the
historical society in terms of the bricks and mortar component of the project. Vandalia and its various team members
attended numerous meetings with the local historical society members and the Congressman's staff; some of these meetings
were in combination with the Gilmer County Historical Society, which had received an appropriation from that same
funding bill for a similar project in Glenville.
The funds were intended to cover the establishment of these centers, including but not limited to the bricks and mortar
costs. There was much ongoing discussion over a long time period regarding the best site in Grantsville for the center.
Eventually, it was determined that the Stump Hotel would be the subject of a renovation and adaptive reuse project that
would ultimately house the center. However, since the Stump structure presented its own unique challenges and limitations,
the historical society decided to acquire and open an adjacent structure as an interim facility. This building, formerly the
Quality Shop, would gradually be integrated into the Stump Hotel's reuse, but would afford the opportunity for the
historical society to house its ongoing activities while a planning and design effort was undertaken to address the many
issues with the Stump. In the meantime, both buildings were acquired with the assistance of historical society members
and particularly Jim Morris.
Prior to undertaking the comprehensive planning and design effort necessary to redevelop these structures, there were
various complications with obtaining environmental clearance and drawing down the funds. The Mid-Ohio Valley Planning
and Development Council (MOVRDC or Region V) and Vandalia collaborated on this activity although Region V was the
lead entity on this. Additionally, Vandalia had to ensure that federal procurement and other regulations were met and a
Request for Qualifications for architectural and engineering (A&E) services was advertised and A&E teams were
interviewed. Due to the limited project size, location and proximity of the two projects in Calhoun and Gilmer Counties, it
was determined that they would be advertised as one project for purposes of the A&E team. Local participation from
both counties-some representing county commissions, some from historical societies-was included in the selection
committee, resulting in a selection of S-E-M Architects from Beckley, West Virginia. S-E-M was engaged under contract
January 18th 2002 and the county commission was to issue checks covering the cost from the grant. The contract was for
comprehensive A&E services for both projects, and was intended to result in conceptual drawings as well as schematic
plans for both the Stump Hotel/Quality Shop and the Glenville counterpart project, the Holt House.
Considering that the total project cost for each would likely well exceed the $208,000 available, respectively, it was
decided that the best approach would be to accomplish the complete plans in this first phase. In restoration and renovation
work, A&E costs typically run between ten-twelve percent of the total project cost. It appears on the surface that
$28,000 for the A&E work would be within the ten percent range unless one considers that the total project cost will
ultimately be greater than $208,000. It was never envisioned that the $208,000 would cover the entire cost; however,
there was always a conscious effort by all parties-particularly the Calhoun Historical Society and Vandalia--to obtain as
much value as possible with the available funds.
Continuing to provide assistance throughout 2003, Vandalia Heritage Foundation provided technical review and input on
the various aspects throughout the process--which was led by S-E-M--to develop the construction documents. The
construction documents were completed by July 26th, 2003, and the advertisement was placed in the local and regional
newspapers on July 30 as part of the public notice for bidding. The original due date for bidding was August 28th and this
was later changed to September 5th due to addendums that reflected responses to contractor questions and clarifications.
The sealed bids were received from three qualified bidders, Olentangy Construction, City Window and Construction and
Allegheny Restoration & Builders Inc. The low bid for the project was Olentangy Construction at $258,000. With the
permission of the other contractors, S-E-M entered into negotiations with Olentangy to arrive at a project price and scope
that would be acceptable for the Calhoun County Historical Society, who would be the end user and the Calhoun County
Commission, who is controlling the funds for the project.
Throughout this ongoing process, Vandalia has interacted closely with various members of the Calhoun County Historical
Society and has spent many (uncompensated) hours for providing this technical assistance to the project. Our assistance
has ranged from clearance of the funds to advising the historical society with non-profit matters to the ongoing bricks and
mortar project assistance. Additionally, the Vandalia Heritage Foundation has reached out to the membership of the
Preservation Trades Network to facilitate on-site training that would further leverage the funding, increase awareness on
the facets of the preservation trades, and provide training of local members of the community. It is our hope that we have
now passed the pre-development phase and will soon see much more visible progress, but that will be in large part based
upon the will of the historical society as well as the available funding.
Further, Vandalia intends to see this project through and to continue to provide assistance as necessary. In fact, we plan
to coverhave agreed to pay the cost of the roof replacement for the Stump Hotel, which is not included in the original
funding, and we will work closely with Congressman Mollohan's office on future funding sources.
In addition, we have included Calhoun County as one of our five charter Legacy sites and have furnished computer
equipment and training for the historical society. The mission of Legacy is to "preserve, collect and communicate family
and local histories in a variety of venues". Our Director of Community Development and our new Legacy Coordinator are
scheduled to meet with historical society members in early October.
We applaud the efforts of the Calhoun County Historical Society to preserve local history and we will continue to support
those whenever possible.
Laura Kurtz Kuhns,
Executive Director
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