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BGRC Board Member Receives Career Cooperative Leadership
Board Vice Chair Richard Johnstone was recently recognized with the Career Cooperative Leadership Award. As part of this recognition, the Virginia Cooperative Council made a donation to BGRC because of its continued dedication to the Highland Inn Project.
Blue Grass Resource Center and other Highland County Nonprofits awarded grants from Little Swiss Fund
The 2024 Little Swiss Fund grant awards will distribute a total of $553,629 to 15 nonprofit organizations serving Highland County.
Blue Grass Resource Center will receive $50,000 for the Highland Inn Revitalization Project.
The fund began in 2018 with a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor. Monies from the permanently endowed fund are annually invested and distributed to eligible 501 (c)(3) organizations through a competitive grant process managed by The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham.
Organizations must be physically located in Highland County, Va., and the project or program to be funded must serve the Highland County area. Religious organizations are welcome to apply. Nonprofit organizations must have annual revenues in excess of $25,000 to be eligible.
All grants will be awarded in late November 2024.
To see the full press release and a list of awardees, click here.
Highland Inn marks 120 years
Article courtesy The Recorder Newspaper
Is the Highland Inn asleep?
There’s a saying: to know your future, you must know your past.
On the 120th anniversary of the Highland Inn, formerly known as the Hotel Monterey, it’s time to dive into the inn’s rich history to provide a glimpse of the past and a vision for the future of the historic property.
The Highland Inn was first opened as the Hotel Monterey on Sept. 30, 1904, by Silas W. Crummett. The hotel was known as the “Pride of the Mountains” and marketed as a resort in the cooler climate to folks in the cities of Virginia.
The Feb. 2, 1961, issue of The Recorder featured a letter to the editor from R.H. Crummett Sr., son of S.W. Crummett, who built the building. According to the letter, the building contractors were Eutsler Bros. of Grottoes, who built it for $6,000.
“This was one of the first buildings to be put up in Monterey that was storm sheeted diagonally with water-proof paper under the ship lap weather boarding,” the letter read. Crummett wrote that he helped with the lathe work and Charles Diggs mixed and carried mortar.
Theatre, inn to get federal grant funding support
Courtesy The Recorder Newspaper
The recent passage of congressional legislation aimed at thwarting a partial federal government shutdown has resulted in significant grant funding for projects in Clifton Forge and Blue Grass.
Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced Friday the funding stopgap measure will provide nearly $148 million in federal funding for projects throughout the commonwealth.
Clifton Forge will receive $1.84 million to upgrade portions of the town’s sanitary sewer collection system, while the Historic Masonic Theatre Preservation Association was awarded $94,000 to replace all entrance and emergency exit doors.
Also receiving funding was the Blue Grass Resource Center in Highland County. Funding in the amount of $812,000 was awarded to restore the 18-room historic inn. Built in 1904, the inn is included on the National Registry of Historic Places.
“It’s about time,” said Warner. “I was proud to support the passage of this legislation, which will give our federal agencies the funding they need to serve the American people and respond to the novel needs of the current fiscal year. I’m particularly thrilled that we were able to secure funding for over 100 individual projects in communities throughout the commonwealth. These projects will make a world of a difference at the community level, tackling specific needs like making our neighborhoods more resilient to climate change, improving the quality of drinking water, addressing homelessness, strengthening local transportation systems, supporting domestic violence victims, and investing in young Virginians, among many others.”
Kaine added, “Although this is long overdue, I’m glad we passed legislation to fund several parts of the government. The bill includes many provisions I fought for to make our communities safer, expand access to affordable housing, support childcare on our military bases, and boost economic growth. I’m proud that we secured funding for 105 community projects across Virginia that will improve transportation, upgrade water infrastructure, support health care, and more. I urge Congress to take up the rest of the government funding bills as soon as possible.”
What’s Old is New Again : Revitalization of historic inn is an important project for Virginia’s smallest county
Article courtesy Co-op Living Magazine
“It was the heartbeat of the community,” Betty Mitchell, executive director of the Blue Grass Resource Center, explains. “And we are excited to have it beating once again.”
She’s referring to the once-bustling Highland Inn, located in Monterey, the county seat of Highland County, Va.
Built in 1904 by Silas W. Crummett, a local businessman, the inn was known as Hotel Monterey for its first 75 years.
The Queen Anne-style building features two levels of Eastlake-style porches with 18 guest rooms and suites. Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone and John Philip Sousa, among other notable historical figures, have visited the grand three-story structure in the past.
The Highland Inn is a historical gem currently in the process of being renovated and revitalized. It’s the oldest, largest and most historic lodging establishment in Highland County. It’s both listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a Virginia Historic Landmark.
The much-beloved inn closed its doors in 2019 when frozen pipes led to water damage that was costly to repair. That’s when Blue Grass Resource Center purchased the property. BGRC is a private nonprofit organization with a mission to enhance the quality of life for Highland County residents through historic preservation and educational programs.
“The Highland Inn is such an iconic building in the county. We thought we could step in, as a nonprofit, and purchase it, renovate it, and then lease it to an operator that is experienced in running a hospitality facility,” Mitchell, a Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative member, explains.
Says BGRC Board Vice Chairman and former Cooperative Living Editor Richard Johnstone, “This is truly an economic development project in the very best sense, because the inn serves as an economic engine for the entire county, which is heavily reliant on tourism.”
Operator chosen to run Highland Inn
Article courtesy The Recorder Newspaper
The Highland Inn now has an operator — a local group owned by a highly regarded hospitality industry veteran.
Jarek Mika of Warm Springs has signed a memorandum of understanding with his company to join forces with the Blue Grass Resource Center, the nonprofit organization that owns the Highland Inn. The BGRC has been seeking a seasoned operator since it took over the inn’s renovations in 2019. The center has long sought to lease the inn’s operation to someone well qualified to carry it forward as a business, while it retains ownership of the property.
Mika understands that vision precisely.
“This is such a great opportunity,” he said Tuesday. “A lot comes with it, but I’m ready.”
He is particularly excited, he said, because he sees so much community involvement and support. “This inn could be one of the biggest private employers in Highland,” he added, noting how many ways folks could pick up a trade in the hospitality industry with experience working there.
Highland Inn project receives grant for technical assistance
Courtesy The Recorder Newspaper
Blue Grass Resource Center, owner of the Highland Inn, learned recently it had received planning support for the inn’s renovation project from Opportunity Appalachia.
It was one of eight projects selected to participate in a program to bring jobs, business support, and investment to Central Appalachia.
The selected projects propose to create more than 310 jobs and attract $27 million in financing to develop and expand child care centers, outdoor recreation, food business incubator and support facilities, regional airport facilities, and hotels in downtown and rural areas across East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
Opportunity Appalachia will work with private investors, banks, Community Development Financial Institutions, New Markets Tax Credits investors, Historic Tax Credit Investors, Opportunity Zone investors and federal agencies to connect interested investors with these projects.
The projects were selected from the second call for applications in 2022, this time focused in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
BGRC will receive $70,000 in technical assistance to have the Highland Inn revitalization project shovel-ready later this year.
