CHARLEMONT — Despite repeated concerns from town officials about the structural integrity of the long-vacant and condemned Charlemont Inn at 107 Main St., owner Charlotte Dewey stresses the building is not at risk of failure.

“People keep putting this out there that the building is falling down. It isn’t,” Dewey said. “It was made with big chestnut beams. It will be standing while other buildings in town fall apart. There has been no problem with the integrity of the infrastructure and that has been told to me by more than one structural engineer and more than one private building inspector.”

Selectboard members previously voiced their concern over the building’s structural integrity, with a particular fear being that the roof could cave in or that someone could trespass into it and get hurt. Dewey attended the Selectboard meeting on Monday, Jan. 8, hoping to correct these statements.

She told the Selectboard that the building got an entirely new roof in 2002 and she redid sections of it in 2016. She brought drone footage of the roof to the meeting, claiming there is no risk of failure.

Dewey also stated there are no mold issues on the property. The Board of Health wrote in a September letter that a roof leak caused the growth of mold and mildew.

“We did air samples. We passed every single one. There was never a sign of black mold,” Dewey said.

The building has sat vacant since 2011 and is currently condemned. The 22-room inn operated from the late 1770s to 2011.

Aside from the structural considerations, the Charlemont Inn’s owners have been involved in various land court cases with the town for non-payment of property taxes for more than a decade, as well as with the Charlemont Sewer District.

In the recent land court decision, Dewey and the other owner of the building were given until Nov. 17, 2023, to pay the more than $85,000 owed to the town in tax payments, interest, court costs and legal fees. A day before the deadline, however, Dewey filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy for a second time, which stalled the foreclosure process.

The town briefly took possession of the building in 2011 because of fees owed to the Sewer District.

“When I came back after paying all the taxes in 2012, I expected to be open by Labor Day,” Dewey said.

Since the inn closed in 2011, Dewey claims she has paid more than $100,000 in taxes to the town. She said she stopped paying her tax bill for the property in 2019.

“We haven’t done much since the town started pursuing us in taxes,” she said. “I spent a great deal of money to still be closed.”

Dewey hoped to complete a full reopening of the building in 2016. She said this dream stalled when she found she needed to install a sprinkler system connected to an underground water supply that would cost her $600,000.

In 2017, Dewey redid part of the building, and as a result of this the kitchen was no longer condemned. She used the kitchen for her catering business, Carriage Catering, until 2019. However, the Board of Health condemned that section of the building again in the fall of 2023.

In September, the Selectboard, Board of Health and Historical Commission all wrote letters urging the court to speed up the foreclosure process, which has since been stalled through the bankruptcy filing.

The Selectboard stressed the financial benefit of having this property back in business, saying if the Charlemont Inn was operational, the town could receive $20,000 in annual property taxes and $72,000 in room and meal tax, or 2% of the annual operating revenue. Meanwhile, the Historical Commission asked for the court to help the town save the building from falling into disrepair to the point of needing to be demolished, calling it “a precious resource that once was, and we hope, could once again be a focal point of our town.”

Dewey said she is speaking with one potential buyer. She hopes to have an investor, buyer or partner come before a foreclosure goes through. She said in 2016 the expected price for reconstruction would cost about $1.5 million to 2 million, but she believes that price has likely gone up to about $2.5 million.

“I understand that the townspeople are upset because it is still closed,” Dewey said. “No one is more upset than I am.”

Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.