New owners hope to restore Sovereign
The new owners of the Sovereign are itching to get started, and restore the historic building to its former glory.
Frank Domenichiello, of Woodbridge, and his brother Marco, along with two partners, recently purchased the Mill Street building which has been vacant since a fire in December 2022. They have named their venture Sovereign Inn 2024 Inc. and are currently working with an architect and engineers to figure out what is possible. The process is challenging, according to Domenichiello.
“We’re trying to assess how much of the original building is salvageable but if I don’t take down the back, I can’t see what state the structure is in,” he told The Echo.
The municipality would like to see plans for the new building before they issue a demolition permit. He likens it to working with a trauma patient, “When a body is hemorrhaging, you need to stop the bleeding first before you work out the entire treatment plan.”
Right now, the focus is on protecting the building, which Domenichiello says he would hate to see bulldozed.
The historic building was used as a hotel prior to 1878, and up until 1939.
“Water has been pouring in for the last year and a half causing more damage,” said Domenichiello.
It is fairly obvious, according to Domenichiello, that the back of the building, which sustained heavy damage, will have to come down, but they would very much like to maintain the integrity of the older, front portion of the building. He said he’d like to strip the paint off the façade and restore the gingerbread cornices. Every effort will be made to make the building more accessible, perhaps including an elevator to access the second and third floors.
Domenichiello says he’d like to get tenants back into the building as quickly as possible. He anticipates there will be commercial space on the ground floor with rentals upstairs. At this stage, he says they are not sure whether that will be apartments or short-term accommodations. He asks, “Why does this community not have a beautiful old hotel?”
Domenichiello would love to see the Sovereign looking like the gracious hotel it was back in its heyday.
“I’d love for people from the city to be able to drive for an hour and 15 minutes and feel like they’ve gone back in time.”
Domenichiello and his brother are also redeveloping 143 and 145 Mill St. through their company Mannington Investments. That project is a bit further along in the permit process, and he’s hoping to see shovels in the ground this summer. They have already hired a construction manager, and could have workers on site within days once a few remaining issues are worked out. If the stars align, they could be building on both sites at the same time. Domenichiello and his brother have reserved two apartments at 143 and 145 Mill St. for their own use and look forward to spending a lot of time in Creemore.
