The Schoolhouse Hotel Project in White Sulphur is right on schedule, according to Cindy Bennett, who stands at the helm of what many see as a huge economic anchor to float neighboring boats when the hotel opens.
Bennett, a native of White Sulphur, explained the transformation of the school her grandfather, she and all her siblings attended, is using all the local businesses and contractors it can from demolition, masonry and framing to custom soaps and freshly baked pastry from the bakery down the street. The transformation is expected to be complete by year’s end and hotel rooms in the historic schoolhouse boutique hotel can be reserved by name for the subject you most enjoyed during your childhood.
“This is one of the fun aspects of demolition and construction,” said Bennett. “We are already at work naming the different rooms as school subjects that were once taught there. When we start accepting reservations this fall, you can ask for a room by name, depending on its location.”
Choosing from mathematics to science, geography, English and history, you can book Math 101 on floor one, or History 202 on the second floor, or the principal’s office and Teacher’s lounge.
The interior of the building is taking shape as framing has begun. Local contractors Adam Whanger with Approved Builders are multi-tasking, along with BFL Construction’s L.J. Leech and Mark Feury. Laying out the inner walls of the Schoolhouse Hotel helps visualize how the former school’s trophies and memorabilia will be incorporated into the focal points and décor.
Nothing is written in stone, Bennett added, “but we are brainstorming about all kinds of ways to repurpose trophies, memorialize yearbooks and photos. We are considering a digital electronic book to keep everything on display, organized into chronological order by decade. For trophies, we have considered repurposing some into bottle stoppers.”
“What we do inside, however, with gift shops, a gym, a restaurant, and a rooftop bar, is not to keep our guests in. It is our intent to have visitors enjoy everything the outdoors has to offer, from hiking and biking, fishing, disc golf, Sherwood Lake and State Forest, Blue Bend and the Greenbrier River Trail,” Bennett said.
Just outside of the hotel, the charming town of White Sulphur is coming back to life, and Bennett said there will be locally owned little shops, restaurants and a bakery.
“The Schoolhouse Hotel intends to work with other local businesses and purveyors, bringing the sweet from the outdoors into the indoors,” Bennett said. “We plan on custom-made soaps from Sweet Cedar Soap, Lovell and Sophie candles, serving delicious freshly baked pastries and desserts from Tootsies just down the street. Tootsies was opened last year by Kennedy Brooks after holding a two-year pastry chef position at The Market in Hinton. She is a graduate of the well-known culinary school, Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina.”
The Schoolhouse Hotel is being developed by the Disability Opportunity Fund and is expected to be open to visitors at the end of the year. The facility will be totally accessible.
