Yep - the power outage weekend was one that certainly left a mark. We were making plans on the fly with the hotel staff; I remember there was some concern that their generator fuel supply was not assured; I also remember our 2nd floor "al fresco" Saturday evening banquet / speech with Amanda Dawn Christie holding court. The hotel was accommodating when it came to how the pull off the banquet given the lighting (rather, the lack thereof) in the meeting rooms.
I was reading one of the news stories about the building's conversion. It will be simply a re-use of the existing space, it seems; so the hollow nature of the building, with its multilevel atrium, will remain. What puzzles me, however, is how they'll configure the individual rooms with kitchens; while each room had plumbing for a wet bar, one would expect an apartment to have a full (albeit small) kitchen. That part of the conversion won't be cheap. 253 suites will become 213 apartments. The planned rental rates ($1585 / month for a 1-bedroom apartment) are certainly less than average in Montgomery County. I wonder if there was any type of special financing utilized, as quite often there are investment tax credits (e.g. LIHTC) that can be invoked if offering below-market rate rental units. RC On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 3:00 PM Eric A. Cottrell <[email protected]> wrote: > > I remember the power outage as well. The hotel had their generators > going because they tested them regularly versus the neighboring hotel > that didn't and suffered the consequences. It was interesting that only > one outlet in the room had emergency power. I think there was only one > light that worked as well. > > Janice and I striking out into the cold darkness to the nearby Zoe's > Kitchen to get supper for the Boston/Montreal crew. We had a community > meal at tables in the downstairs hallway somewhere near the forum rooms. > > Power came back the morning we left (of course). I remember seeing a > picture of severe power pole damage near where I worked in Watertown. > There was a number of detours I had to take on the way home due to trees > blocking the roads. > > The event caused me to carry a flashlight in my luggage ever since. > > It was also great to help Dan do the Listening Lounge. > > 73 Eric > > On 2/19/2026 2:34 PM, Tom S wrote: > > Ah well, all good things come to an end. > > > > Scanner Scum sure did have a good time camped out in Bob’s 6th floor suite > > the year of the Great Nor’Easter and power outage listening to the > > excitement on no fewer than six scanners at once. Primo monitoring event…. > > > > Tom WA8PYR > > > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Swlfest mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > > > To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to > > [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL > > shown above. > > > > For more information on the Fest, visit: > > > > http://www.swlfest.com > > http://swlfest.blogspot.com > _______________________________________________ > Swlfest mailing list > [email protected] > http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to > [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown > above. > > For more information on the Fest, visit: > > http://www.swlfest.com > http://swlfest.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Swlfest mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above. For more information on the Fest, visit: http://www.swlfest.com http://swlfest.blogspot.com
