HARDWICK, Vt. (WCAX) – A year after the Lamoille River overran its banks, destroying a Hardwick inn, the structure was finally removed Tuesday, a sobering reminder of the damage left behind.
“We heard like the big crash, you know, enough to draw your attention,” recalled Elexus Draper, who was looking downriver when the inn was wiped away. “We were outside all of a sudden. You just watch like the big red roof come down… It was still whole until it hit this bridge right here..”
From the air, it’s easy to see the new course of the river chartered during the floods. Private crews on Tuesday demolished what remained of the inn.
“What we’re continuing with is now removing of the debris which is the contaminated waste in the hotel. It’s being packaged by an environmental firm and will be shipped to the Coventry landfill,” explained David Shea with Complete Demolition Services.
The town of Hardwick received a state emergency management grant through FEMA to purchase the property and demolish the building, which previously flooded in the ‘70s. The inn’s owners gave the space new life but another revival was not on the table.
“We can’t do that anymore. We have to make responsible moves for the environment and for the river. Give the river a wide enough berth to move through the town. And, you know, it’s sad, it’s sad,” said Hardwick Town Manager David Upson, who helped spearhead the flood resiliency effort along with other projects. “From the flood until now, it’s just been, you know, we’re slogging forward doing the recovery, and it’s it’s slow, it’s painstakingly slow.”
Upson says the site will be returned to the floodplain along the river.