When developer Bruce Thompson bought The Cavalier Hotel property in 2013, the place was a mess: The roof was leaking, the basement floor was sinking, and structural defects were threatening the nearly 100-year-old icon.
Inside and out, more signs of deterioration emerged. The Hunt Room’s brick fireplace was collapsing. The ballroom’s moulding and outside columns were crumbling. And the corners of the walls atop the Y-shaped hotel were cracking.
It’s been four years since Thompson and his partners pledged to save the landmark, built in 1927 on a sand dune overlooking the ocean. It was much more expensive and involved than they could ever have imagined.
Now the “Grand Dame” is nearly back to her original luster, and she’s being primped for the big reveal.
