Neighbors, hotel owners spar over planned event venue in Ligonier

A fight is brewing in Ligonier between the future and the past.

Owners of the historic Thistle­down at Seger House, just two blocks from the Diamond, received a building permit to erect a 2,000-square-foot pavilion that its owner says will host large events and bring new visitors to the borough.

Neighbors claim the project will change the character of the town of about 1,500 residents in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains and threatened to bring their opposition to borough council when it meets Thursday night.

“It doesn’t fit in. To have this eyesore right in the middle of town is unbelievable,” said neighbor Sandy Podlucky, 82. “I can’t believe this eyesore is coming to the borough.”

Adam Gardner and his wife, Michelle, own Thistledown at Seger House, a nine-room boutique hotel on West Main Street in the heart of the borough. It was built early last century as a mansion for coal baron John Seger and his family. The property was converted to a hospital in the mid-1940s and served as a surgery center until the Gardners bought and restored the building a decade ago when it was rechristened as an inn.

The additional event space is needed and his project will provide an another attraction to lure visitors to the borough, Gardner said. His plan calls for an all-weather pavilion alongside the hotel to accommodate about 120 guests for weddings, bridal showers and other gatherings.

“I want to invest in this town, and I want people to come here. I hope people like it and want to come to town. We’re doing it nice and clean and certainly respectful,” Gardner said.

He is importing the wooden-frame structure from a German company. The European-style pavilion will feature wood trim and a canvas shell that be can enclosed in the winter and exposed to the elements in the summer. Gardner said it will be only the third of its kind in the United States.

Laurel Municipal Inspection Agency, the private code officers hired by Ligonier council last fall, approved Gardner’s project and last week issued building permits to allow construction to begin, according to Jan Shaw, Ligonier’s secretary and treasurer.

Gardner said structural engineers have signed off on the project.

A foundation is scheduled to be poured next week and the pavilion is expected to be in place for the start of Fort Ligonier Days in October, Gardner said.

The new event space is slated to host a corporate event at the end of next month, he said.

Podlucky said as many as 100 residents have signed a petition asking borough council to intervene.

Council has taken no prior votes on the project and none is formally expected to be considered at Thursday’s meeting, Shaw said.

Ligonier solicitor Mark Sorice said council has no authority to rescind the building permit or alter the project.

“Opposition to it would have to file an application with the zoning hearing board, which could reconsider the permit or add conditions,” Sorice said, noting he was unaware of any official challenge filed with the zoning board. “Council has no authority once a permit is approved.”

Dawn Metz, owner of Colonial House on Main bed and breakfast a few doors away from Thistledown, said neighbors will ask council to halt the project or adopt crowd and noise curfews to limit the hours of operation of the new event space. She said a lawyer has been hired to represent their interests.

“There’s not enough parking for that many people, and it’s too much noise,” Metz said. “We want the borough council to put the kibosh on this.”