Circle Court Motel transitions to new owners

TICONDEROGA | Joe and Alicia Vilardo of Ticonderoga did not exactly start out looking to get into the hospitality business. But they did want to find an investment and a legacy for their children, something perhaps with a little more elan than the typical mutual fund. What they happily wound up with was the Circle Court Motel, an iconic piece of Ticonderoga that began life as a tourist home a century ago and has endured and thrived ever since. And in buying the motel from Jerry and Barb Greer, the Vilardos made a little history of their own, participating in a new program that strives to help retiring business owners find young people able and willing to see to it that the venture into which they poured their life's work does not die. "We're so thankful and happy that young entrepreneurs are investing in Ticonderoga," said chamber of commerce President Matt Courtright. The program is run under the auspices of the Center For Businesses In Transition, an offshoot of the Adirondack North Country Association, an advocacy group that focuses on economic and community vitality. Its partners include a dozen governmental, educational and professional groups, and its funded largely with a grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission. Most recently, the center was instrumental in transitioning the 130-year-old Ward Lumber in Jay into an employee-owned co-op. Alicia Vilardo said the center and its partners, including the local liaison, the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Greers themselves, were instrumental in negotiating the complicated process. "It's been quite an adventure, and we have enough stories to write a book," she said at a ribbon-cutting and transition celebration outside the motel on Thursday. "There were a lot of storms, but we had a lot of help along the way." The couple plans to renovate the existing rooms, and plan to add more, Joe Vilardo said. The motel dates back to the 1920s when industrialist and philanthropist Horace Moses was building the Hancock House and developing the traffic circle to replace the crossroads, said Town Historian Bill Dolback. Ticonderoga Town Board Member said the location is strategic because the motel with its well-manicured grounds is on the main route into town. "I'm delighted that the motel is one of the first things visitors see," she said. "Long-standing businesses like the Circle Court Motel are a gem in any town," said Supervisor Joe Giordano, as he congratulated the Vilardos. "You pulled it off." After 18 months of pandemic-related uncertainty, Assemblyman Matt Simpson said the transition is among the green shoots of businesses that have continued to grow in the face of adversity. Simpson credited the Vilardos, Greers and multiple agencies for working together. "Partnerships are how things get done," he said. ANCA Executive Director Elizabeth Cooper said that a myriad of small businesses across the Adirondacks are facing an uncertain future as their owners retire. They don't want to see the business close, but often have not known where to turn for help finding a successor. Cooper said the Center For Businesses In Transition can help find a solution, from finding buyers on the open market to employee ownership, and that maintaining these small businesses with young blood is part of "growing a new economy that works for all of us."

Signup for our newsletter

Circle Court Motel transitions to new owners

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS