The short answer is: A lot.

Project Manager Jarrod Mills offered a tour Thursday of what is now a busy work site. Steve St. George and Devin Jones bought the building last year and are restoring it into a modern hotel and restaurant.

“It’s almost like we’ve gotten to the top of the hill and we’re starting to come down the other side,” Mills said.

There is clearly a lot going on at the Fredonia institution on the corner of Main and White Streets, built in 1868 with a 1920s addition but closed to the public since 2017.

The ballroom of the White Inn Thursday. Submitted photo

The work is immediately apparent before even entering the building. The exterior is getting new paint, with the White Street side stripped to its brick.

Workers tore out all the old landscaping on the front lawn, leaving essentially a blank slate. Mills said new landscaping is coming.

The old pillars on the front porch are structurally sound but need new plaster. That’s planned, too. The leaky skylights above the porch will also get replaced. It’ll get new awnings, too.

As for the White Inn’s interior, “We want to keep its classic charm but provide it with modern amenities people are looking for at a luxury hotel,” Mills said.

The electrical system is getting overhauled. “There was a rat’s nest downstairs in electrical — we’re redoing all that,” Mills said. Workers removed old wiring on the day of the OBSERVER’s visit.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems throughout the building, in both public spaces and private rooms, will be replaced. There are 28 HVAC units for guestrooms sitting on the ballroom floor, ready for installation.

The largest individual area of effort in the building is probably the kitchen. That is getting a down-to-the-studs renovation.

Renovators found “a clay tile floor on concrete on who knows how old wood,” Mills said. That was torn out and replaced by a concrete base, with stone flooring planned over it.

The kitchen will get all-new equipment to replace what the previous owner sold off. A new exhaust system is coming.

Mills said the new kitchen will include a bakery and should be able to handle any and all tasks. “Devin’s gonna be like a kid in a candy store, I think,” he said.

The renovations ripped out some walls in the ballroom to open up the layout a little. Partitions will be available for smaller events, if needed.

The ballroom’s classic pressed tin ceiling will remain, though it might get a paint job.

Few changes are planned for the bar and restaurant area and its layout will stay the same. There will be an outdoor seating patio added on the White Street side.

Moving upstairs, the extensive renovations, and plans for more of them, continue.

Bathrooms in the guestrooms are all ripped out and will be completely redone. New windows are ready to go. New bedding is coming, too — Mills said mattresses and box springs they found in good condition were donated to charity.

The rooms will have 21st century amenities such as wall-mounted TVs and plenty of places to put USB cables for charging.

The conference room on the third floor will get updates, with videoconferencing capabilities and new speakers added. “It’ll have an old-school boardroom feel but it’s going to have 2023 technology,” Mills said.

Mills sought to emphasize that most of the contractors working on the White Inn are local. In fact, prominent local contractor Dan Culligan joined him for part of the tour. Culligan is normally seen all over Fredonia in the summer doing various jobs, but this year he’s concentrating on the White Inn.

There’s no firm date for the reopening and there is much still to be done. Mills is confident it’ll get done, however.

“It’s just finding the right people for doing the work,” he said.