Landmark Inn getting major facelift, interior improvements

LACONIA — The downtown Landmark Inn is undergoing $1.1 million in exterior and interior upgrades, including a tri-color paint job and large signs bearing its new name — Best Western Plus.

Owners Ragi and Mahendra Patel are requesting a variance from the city Zoning Board of Adjustment for 248 square feet of signage, to be placed at the top of the north and south walls of the seven-story building at 480 Main St.

The Patels declined to comment, saying they would prefer to wait until the refurbishment is complete.

City officials welcome the improvements in downtown’s tallest structure, which is highly visible from busy Court Street, Main Street and Beacon Street East and West.

At the Monday night City Council meeting, Mayor Ed Engler presented the couple with a "Front Porch Award," given to recognize those who improve the appearance of residential and commercial property.   

"All the city is applauding you, take my word for that, for what you've done there," he told them. "It's turned out to be an outstanding project and we thank you and appreciate you both."

The building, constructed in 1973, is the first thing many visitors see when they come to the city, and it was beginning to show its age. Its drab earth tones have now been replaced by a yellow, red and gray color scheme.

Planning Director Dean Trefethen said the refurbishment, combined with those at nearby Melcher & Prescott Insurance at 426 Main St., will spruce up the area.

“I think the hotel is going to be a good-looking building when they get done,” Trefethen said. “It will have more character. It was beginning to look pretty stark.”

In addition to the improved aesthetics, the work could have other benefits, Police Chief Matt Canfield said Friday.

“Perhaps this will deter a certain type of clientele and a lot of the calls for police service,” he said. “There has been a drug problem.”

Last year, there were 116 calls for police to the hotel, including 11 medical aids, 13 classified as officer wanted, nine for destruction of property, seven welfare checks, three intoxicated subjects and seven for suspicious person.

This year, there have been 45 calls for service to the hotel, two calls for theft, one for assault, three for domestic disturbance and three for property destruction. There have also been 49 calls to the parking lot, including 16 for suspicious auto and 11 for suspicious person.

The Landmark Inn originally operated as a Ramada Inn, and in 1980 became the Sheraton Laconia Inn under the ownership of Jack Basch & Sons Enterprises, Inc.

During the 1980s, the hotel was a popular gathering place, dining spot and watering hole. Amid the severe recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the hotel's fortunes turned as it changed hands in 1986 and names, first to Best Western, then to The Inn of All Seasons before being acquired by the Parisi family in 1993 and christened the Landmark Hotel.

The Parisis sold the hotel to the Patels in 2016.

Standing on a 1.67-acre lot, the hotel has 104 rooms as well as a restaurant below the lobby and a pool below the restaurant, neither of which have operated for some years.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment on Dec. 17 will consider a request for a variance from sign regulations to allow for a total of 248 square feet of wall signage where only 24 square feet is allowed. The variance also seeks permission for the signs to be at an elevation of 70 feet, where only 60 feet is allowed, and for there to be three signs, instead of only two allowed by the zoning ordinance.

One of the signs will be where the present lone sign is now located on Court Street.

The renovations will not change the footprint of the hotel. A handicap access ramp will be built and a back deck will be replaced.

The application for a variance described the work.

“Significant investment has been made to upgrade the exterior, new windows have been added and the interior has been upgraded to the Best Western standards,” it said. "In all, approximately $1.1 million will be invested in the refurbishment."

It also described the need for improved signage.

“The main ID sign is on the corner of Court and Beacon, and is modest’ it is angled so it can be viewed by traffic on Court Street; traffic on Main Street has no view of this sign. There is no signage on the building. Thus, traffic coming from the north or from the south has no indication that this is a hotel.”