The National Hotel

[frenchtowner]

Shown above: National Hotel, Frenchtown, New Jersey
April 12, 2008 All boarded up and nowhere to go

I am posting this thread to see if anyone besides me actually cares that "The National" is closed. I know that some members of the business community got all worked up about this issue a few weeks ago and allot of people felt like something should be done about it. As far as I know, nothing was done, but some people did have some really good ideas about how to make the place look better.

Personally, I think it is a shame that this landmark hotel, bar and restaurant is just sitting there all boarded up. It used to be a place that was full of life at almost any time of the day or night when Nancy Blackwell owned it. I used to work there and I know for a fact that there were regular customers that would show up at 10:00 or 11:00 o’clock in the morning to read the paper and have some coffee, while others would be there until way past midnight discussing politics and the latest town gossip. I know that the hotel would have guests almost every single weekend, no matter what the season was. I know that the bar used to be packed on Monday nights because there was a gorgeous bubbly bartender there that made sure all her regular customers were there to have a cocktail and a bite to eat. I know that the place is a very important part of the community, not just because the Lions Club used to meet there, but because all of us used to meet there to converse with old friends and make new ones.

I honestly believe that with the right business plan and the right owners and employees, that the National Hotel can be a very profitable business. It is my opinion however that the place will never make money if it is divided up into 2 or 3 separate businesses. The restaurant and the bar and the hotel all help each other survive and thrive. When the hotel is divided from the restaurant and/or the bar, a competitive relationship is created where there should be a cooperative one.


Shown above: National Hotel, Frenchtown, NJ
Vacancy: [all too true] April 12, 2008

[szot]

I think this makes town look run down and depressed. It reminds me of abandoned buildings you see in bad neighborhoods in Trenton. Why can't some artist from around here paint some scenes on those plywood boards?

[frenchtowner]

Szot,

Your suggestion about having some artists paint on the plywood was exactly what some business owners suggested. Everyone decided however that this was a legal problem because the owner would have to consent to somebody being on the property and to having the plywood painted.

I suggested that a letter of concern be written to the owner telling them how much we would like to help them make the place look better.

I think that the best thing that I can do as a publisher is call to attention to the problem and to the solution. The best solution to this problem is for someone to buy this grand old hotel in this neat little town and as Tim Gun from Project Runway says, "Make It Work". For it to really work though the new owners are going to have to really push tourism and fight the people in Frenchtown that want to keep this charming little place all to themselves.

[szot]

Why would the owner care if someone just wanted to make their property and the town look better? Wouldn't that just help the owner sell it faster? I don't understand why the Zoning Board can't do something.

[frenchtowner]

Szot,

The Frenchtown Zoning Board can't do anything because there is no law that says you can't protect your property even if it does make it really ugly. Oh yeah, that is just my opinion guys. Please no threats of lawsuits. This is just a public forum.

Oh yeah, I also said we should stay positive. The positive thing that could come out of this is that maybe there should be some laws passed to prevent this from ever happening again. Is that possible?

[frenchtowner]

The National Hotel in Frenchtown New Jersey from an old postcard from the early
1900's. This postcard as great as it is, is not nearly as magnificent as one that
Nan Blackwell, the former owner has. In her photo that porch is full of a huge
crowd of customers.

I am posting this photo in hopes that I can inspire someone to post their own
images or words that will tell about this great old hotel in the good times. Maybe
we can even inspire the new owners, wherever they are.

[Chef]

I used to work at the National and I feel that it is a keystone to the whole community. This feels like Frenchtown has had its heart ripped out.

[ranee peterson]

I too live in Frenchtown and saw the sad boarding of this beauitful Hotel. Years ago I had a big change in my life and choose to live here to start my life over. My first job was a housekeeper at the hotel. The place was very alive with the people whom live here. That is where I made a lot of friendships I still have today. I beleive that not taking any action as a town is a sad statment to the rest of NJ that we, as a town don't feel that our main street is a reflection of who we are. There are so many empty stores and now a boarded up Hotel. It tells our visitors that we don't care. I know there are town meetings and there needs to be more support from all the people here not just the bussinesses. The people in the rest of town need to start to voice how they would help our town to be beauitful again. We need to make the absentee landlords responable for the look of town and not let these old buildings become weeded over, run down and falling apart. Also where is the Mayor in all of this? Why is there no action on the emptyness of town and the boarding of a town treasure like the National Hotel. She is a like a little old lady that has been left in the street and no one cares. I know that owner has another building that has sat empty for a very long time, years infact. Maybe the town should look in to who is buying these buildings and pass laws to keep this town alive and beautiful like it once was.

[frenchtowner]

Ranee said:

"Maybe the town should look in to who is buying these buildings and pass laws to keep this town alive and beautiful like it once was.

That is exactly what communities like Red Bank NJ did back in the late 80's and early 90's when their town started going down. They passed laws to form what is called an SID/ S. I. D. [Special Improvement District]. Important commercial properties downtown are assed a special property tax whose proceeds are used to:

"take advantage of development opportunities that will provide benefits to the
businesses, consumers and employees including the expansion of marketing efforts and the provision of ambient events"

If there were such a zone in Frenchtown, I don't think that this tragedy would have ever been allowed to happen.

Finally, I know that this proposal might upset property owners who feel that their taxes are too high to begin with, but what it worse, higher taxes or worthless property. I too feel that a lot of property owners have been punished severely for improving their buildings. It seems that our current property tax system in Frenchtown is only benefiting those who let their buildings go into disrepair.

Also it should be noted that this "special higher tax zone" was very controversial and some Red Bank citizens fought to have their properties excluded from the zone and won. The SID has worked beautifully however. The streets are kept beautiful with flower plantings and the organization has funds to do streetscaping improvements. Today the town is vibrant and dynamic. There are very few empty storefronts in the main part of town, and the value of properties downtown has gone up dramatically compared to before the project was begun. The city has hosted civic groups from all over the world that have come to learn about how this little NJ town made its Big Change.

You can learn about Red Bank's SID here.

[szot]

The old picture of the hotel is amazing. I never knew that the hotel had steps that ran all the way across the front of it like that. About those higher taxes, you can definately count me out on that one!