BELLEFONTE — Brothers Chris and Jonathan Virgilio enjoy renovating buildings and have a sales agreement in place to purchase the Gamble Mill property, with a closing date potentially set for Thursday, Nov. 29.
Jonathan Virgilio said he is hopeful that the sale will go through, as long as all the numbers work out. If they do, he said the pair plans to restore and renovate the building and then get “a feel for the pulse of the community” on what to do with the property commercially. But, he said, a restaurant appears to be the needed direction in which to go.
Virigilio has been a part of Bellefonte for seven years and teaches math at the high school. He also works as a Realtor for Perry Wellington Realty, and he said the Gamble Mill property “always caught [his] eye.” He walked through Bellefonte a few years ago, thinking about making a move on it then, but the finances were not right at the time.
He said that he and his brother, who works in real estate in Charlottesville, Va., recently restored a building that was more than 100 years old, and it was an incredible experience to bring life back to the building. In June, he became interested in the Gamble Mill property again, coincidentally just after the sale of the property to another buyer fell through.
Shauna McClure and Gary Werkheiser had announced plans to redevelop the property as The Inn at Lamb’s Mill, in reference to the site’s original name. They planned to create a luxury boutique hotel, a high-end restaurant and an authentic Irish pub with a craft brewery, but it did not come to fruition.
That was the second time someone has backed away from the historic building. In July 2017, Marian Bradley, of Montana, ended a year-long effort to purchase the building with a group of investors and open a restaurant and brewery in the location.
In January 2015, co-owners Dave Fonash and Paul Kendeffy chose to pursue different career paths and closed Gamble Mill. Since then, the large presence in a revitalized Bellefonte has sat empty, even as the waterfront area in front of it was redeveloped with an open space and pedestrian walkway.
The recent news of the development of the waterfront property that sits adjacent to Gamble Mill with a hotel and apartment building shows the area has strong potential, said Virgilio. If they are to open up a restaurant, Virgilio is unsure how much he and his brother will be involved in its management. He said he has talked to interested parties about the possibility of running a restaurant out of the facility.
The property currently is listed at $1 million on the Kissinger, Bigatel and Brower website, with the sale pending.
