Bedford Inn rises from a fire By JACK FICHTER CAPE MAY- It’s the type of phone message that send shivers down the spine of an innkeeper. It was 5:26 a.m., Archie Kirk, owner Cape May’s Bedford Inn, looked at his cell phone through sleepy eyes and saw a 1-800 toll free number. He decided to let the call go to voicemail. The date was Jan. 25, 2014. Kirk was in the Philadelphia area to attend a seminar. When he played back the message, the caller identified who himself as with an alarm company said, “We have a fire reported at the Bedford Inn.” Kirk said he called Cape May police and heard sirens in the background over the phone. Firefighters reported the inn “as full of smoke.” Minutes later the 9-1-1 dispatcher said the fire was out. When Kirk called back emergency dispatchers a few minutes later to find out if the inn was secured, he was informed by fire personnel they were still fighting the fire. Kirk immediately started driving home to Cape May with his brother. “I get about halfway down the parkway and all of a sudden my phone starts ringing off the hook and it is guests,” he said. Guests were offering their condolences. When he asked how they knew the Bedford Inn was on fire, they replied, “It’s all over the news.” When Kirk arrived, he discovered he could see inside the building from the driveway through a hole in the building. He said when he entered the inn by the backdoor, the smell of smoke was “tremendous.” Kirk said he looked in a closet that housed the inn’s boiler and saw debris everywhere. A wall in the dining room was completely gone, he said. Cape May firefighters had pulled all the antiques away from the wall and covered them with tarps, said Kirk. When he got to the top of the stairs to the inn’s second floor, he saw the bathroom was a total loss. Another wall had a hole in it and a second bathroom was so damaged the only recognizable item was a sink, said Kirk. On the third floor, he said he could see outside through a missing wall. Kirk said there are two opinions on the cause of the fire, one was classed as “undetermined,” while an insurance adjuster guessed the cause was “electrical.” The fire went up to the third floor of the inn through the walls and crossed to the other side of the inn which is divided into two sections by a central hallway, he said. For the first three months, there was no action from the insurance company, said Kirk. Then the insurance company recommended a contractor skilled in both fire restoration and repairs to historic buildings. The inn, located on Stockton Avenue, was built in 1883. Kirk said before work could begin, all the antiques needed to be removed from the inn, a job that took some time. As the contractor ripped down plaster, more and more damage was uncovered including discovering a support beam burned in half, he said. Temporary walls were built and the burned support beam was replaced with a steel beam, said Kirk. “Because it was in January, all the pipes were frozen,” he said. After the rooms were gutted, heating and plumbing lines were replaced. “When they started charging lines, all the water was leaking out in every room on the other side, it was gushing all over the place because the pipes had frozen,” said Kirk. “When they opened up the walls to get where the leaks were, they found out the fire had actually gone to the other side of the building, so they starting ripping floors up and walls.” “Every time I thought we we’re going forward, we were actually going backward,” he continued. Kirk said the smell of smoke did not subside until June or July. The inn now smells like a new building without a hint of smoke. He said everything that was burned was removed including insulation. Smoke damage occurred in every room requiring wallpaper to be removed and mattresses discarded. Uncovered wood and wicker items were also thrown away, he said. “All the rooms are totally redone now,” said Kirk. Restoration of antiques was handled by West Cape May’s “Antique Doorknob.” He said owner Bill Causey was able to fully restore a fire damaged table made in 1870. Chandeliers and lamps were rewired. Kirk said he kept as much historic hardware as possible such as hinges and knobs. A new mural is being painted in the dining room by Jim McLaughlin that contains images of Cape May past and present. After the fire, Kirk said he had to choose to restore the Bedford Inn or just give up. He said members of the community, guests and friends have been overwhelmingly supportive. “I’m not a quitter,” said Kirk. “If it wasn’t for my faith in God, I would not have gotten through this.” The inn was also his residence. Other innkeepers gave him a place to stay while the renovations were underway, he said. Kirk said he plans to reopen the inn beginning Valentine’s Day weekend. Reservations for the summer starting coming in as soon as the reopening was announced on the Bedford Inn website: bedfordinn. Kirk is a member of the board of directors of Mid Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities (MAC). In the past, he conducted tours for MAC. Last year’s exhibit at the carriage house at the Emlen Physick Estate chronicled Cape May’s great fires. Kirk said ironically, the Bedford Inn was the final photo added to the exhibit.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:48:52 +0000
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