SARANAC LAKE — Electricity arced and sparks flew on Wednesday as Kurt Stender welded the corners of the iconic Dew Drop Inn sign in a parking lot outside the Adirondack Stiles Real Estate Company.
Katie Stiles said the historic inn on the bank of the Saranac River has a new owner, a new plan for reopening and a new variance allowing the classic neon sign to be installed on Broadway once again.
Stiles said she represents the owner, Taimim Li from Long Island. He’s in the third generation of a family in the tungsten industry. He bought the three-story property in June 2022 through Li Adirondack LLC.
The building is in rough shape as it stands, after years of sitting vacant. The riverside dining area has flooded several times over the years.
“It’s a full-blown restoration,” Stiles said. “From the foundation up.”
The neon sign of the former Dew Drop Inn is seen here on the building at 27 Broadway, Saranac Lake in May 2016. (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)
Li, she said, grew up with family in the Saranac Lake area, and he fondly recalls his summers visiting here and eating at the Dew Drop with them. She said he wanted to invest in Saranac Lake and recreate his experience for others.a
“It’s his project, but it’s something we’re all going to be thankful for,” Stiles said.
What Li is planning is a ground-level bar with games like an antique billiards table, a downstairs restaurant next to the river and six rooms for rent upstairs.
PERMITS PENDING
Stiles said the project is in the process of getting the permits it needs. Chiefly, she said they need to get an approved amendment to the existing site plan.
This has been temporarially delayed, she said, because village Community Development Director Jamie Konkoski resigned from her position last month and the summer has been a busy season for the village community development department. Stiles said they are moving along slowly but methodically to make sure they have all their bases covered.
The current site plan is from 2017 and was issued to the previous owner, Calli Shelton. Shelton had attempted a similar redevelopment of the inn, but got held up in the permitting process because of a series of reasons — some “static” regarding the village River Walk, which has been proposed to cut through the property; the timeline of the project; fighting between Shelton and the village; and a general lack of communication between the two.
Stiles said Li has a different plan than Shelton did.
“Her permitting issues, they weren’t something that followed through to the new owner,” Stiles said. “I have not experienced any real road blocks like she did. … Different people and different times.”
A SIGN
On Wednesday, Stender was patching areas where the metal sign has rotted over the years. It will be repainted and he said new neon tubes are being fabricated for it. It’s a big project.
“It’s going to be one of the best signs in Saranac Lake,” Stender said.
That’s coming from a guy who knows signs. Kurt co-founded the Stender Brothers Sign Company.
“I mean, it’s a classic,” he said. “And you can never get away with doing it anymore.”
The sign doesn’t comply with the village’s modern laws. It’s too big and neon is now banned in the village. But due to its historical significance, it was allowed. Village Administrative Assistant Cassandra Hopkins said the Development Board members all felt the sign’s historic value to the downtown made it worthy of an exception and it got its variance at a May 2 board meeting.
THE DEW DROP’S NAMESAKE
The Dew Drop Inn was operated from 1947 to 1988 by Forrest “Dew Drop” Morgan, a larger-than-life character who was a champion bobsledder, World War II POW and masterful storyteller.
Stiles said everyone who ate or worked there has a colorful story about “Dew Drop.”
“I remember Dew Drop taught me to wink for two cherries in my Shirley Temple,” she said.
Her husband Bruce Darring, a professional woodworker, constructed the doors to the establishment that open onto the sidewalk. “Dew Drop” paid him in food.
Morgan died in 2012 at the age of 90.
“There’s only one Forrest Morgan,” Stiles said.
Stiles said Li wants to make the place his own while paying homage to the historic landmark that so many people have memories with. It is a place of local pride, so she said it will be furnished in part with Saranac Lake ephemera and memorabilia.
Actress Faye Dunaway worked there in 1960 and 1961 and folks like boxer Muhammad Ali and Olympic swimmer and actor Buster Crabbe dined there.
The Morgan family sold the building in 1991 to Ed Dukett. It was a youth center from 2004 to 2007. Dukett sold it in 2016 to Shelton.
Stiles said she couldn’t begin to wager a guess at when the inn will reopen, or a price tag for the project.
For now, Stender is enjoying restoring the historic sign, and excitedly talks about plans to have it decked out in neon dew drops, letters and a martini glass.