The 24 million dollar renovation of Brattleboro’s Brooks House will be celebrated on October 3 at 5p in the Brooks House Atrium in downtown Brattleboro. The Honorable Peter Shumlin, Governor of Vermont will be in attendance, along with Brooks House Development consisting of local businessmen Bob Stevens, Craig Miskovich, Ben Taggard, Pete Richards and Drew Richards.
A fire gutted the historic building, formerly a hotel, in April 2011. A few months later Tropical Storm Irene slammed the downtown area, causing significant flooding. Since that summer, the block-long Brooks House in the middle of Main Street has been boarded up and surrounded by tarps and scaffolding. A group of local businessmen and developers, formed to purchase and renovate it.
The team’s financing for the project includes public and private partnerships, grants and tax credits. The 80,000-square-foot building includes an 18,000-square-foot academic center for Community College of Vermont and Vermont Technical Center and classes have already begun. Oak Meadow home schooling will also be occupying the old ballroom space in the Brooks House.
The building also features high-end apartments and a variety of commercial businesses, including the esteemed Denver restaurant, duo; Wow frozen yogurt shop, Brilliance rugs and jewelry shop, and offices. The building should be mostly completed and occupied by the grand opening.
In addition, the fully renovated historic building consists of 23 apart¬ments; 18,000-sq.-ft of college space; 4,000-sq.-ft. of office space; and 32,000-sq.-ft. of a mix of retail, restaurants, cafes and shops. The newly restored formal lobby leads to a new, two-story atrium that connects to shops and a renovated plaza.
Commercial space is still available – two retail spaces on Main and one on High Street and below in the old historic Oak Room that later became the Moles Eye.
http://brookshouse.com
Reassuring
Nice to see Brilliance back on Main Street.
Brilliance!
My thought exactly. So happy to see that Brilliance will return to their home.
For those who missed it:
From iBrattleboro’s: Today In Local History
1874: Crosby’s brick building in the rear of the “Crosby block,” has been enlarged by an addition of a new section on the north, fronting on the Brooks House square. The building will be known as “Harmony block,” and the location as “Harmony place.”
From iBrattleboro’s: Today In Local History
1891: The Brooks House needs 100 more rooms at the time of the Valley Fair. It will be a matter of public convenience, which will aid in making the fair a success, if the people who come here can be provided for. All persons who have rooms which can be used should notify the manager of the Brooks House at once.
Am I remembering incorrectly
Am I remembering incorrectly or didn’t the plans for the Brooks renovation call for some of the apartments to be fair market/affordable? “High end apartments” doesn’t seem to fit into that criteria.
a few
I may be wrong, but I believe there are 5 “fair market” apartments. Whether they’re affordable or not would depend on your finances. The old rundown apartments were often called ‘affordable’ but is a tiny 2-room flat (with nothing included and no parking) for $600 a month ‘affordable’?