KENNEBUNK, Maine — A proposal for a major renovation of the Franciscan Guest House at the monastery on Beach Avenue is making its way through the town’s site plan review process.
The Society of Franciscan Fathers of Greene, Maine, which owns the property, is looking to renovate both the interior and the exterior of the Franciscan Guest House, with plans for relocating guest rooms, modernizing facilities, updating the façade, expanding parking opportunities, and upgrading utilities.
The site plan also calls for a name change to the Canticle Hotel.
In July, the town’s Site Plan Review Board accepted the application for the project as complete and took a site walk at the property. The board will hold a public meeting for the proposal during its next meeting at Kennebunk Town Hall on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Architect Robert Metcalfe of Mitchell & Associates in Portland discussed the applicant’s plans during the board’s meeting on July 18.
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What’s planned for Franciscan Guest House makeover?
The site is an 8-acre parcel separated from the larger monastery parcel in 2001. Originally, the main guest house was a school. A gymnasium was added in the 1960s. Currently, the Franciscan Guest House comprises three structures: the main guest house, a brick building offering 35 rooms; the White House, a one-story, wood-frame structure with eight rooms; and the Tudor House, a two-story building that fronts 29 Beach Ave. and has 22 rooms.
The project calls for the White House to be demolished, with its eight rooms transferred to the main guest house, according to town documents.
Also, as part of the plan, the Tudor House would be renovated to have 12 rooms, and the remaining 10 rooms would be relocated to the main guest house.
The project also involves the creation of a partial second floor in part of the main guest house wing where the gym once existed. This wing would become the new main entry for the Canticle Hotel, complete with a new lobby, a check-in area, a restaurant, and two small meeting rooms, according to town documents.
Metcalfe told the Site Plan Review Board the renovations at the Tudor House would be the second phase of the project so that the facility could remain open with all of its 22 rooms during construction on the main structure.
Currently, there is a restaurant licensed for up to 150 guests. The proposed new restaurant would provide for up to 91 guests but would be able to be modified in the future.
The swimming pool and pool house currently at the site would remain.
A 950-square-foot garage on the property would be removed, and a woodshed would be relocated to the principal monastery parcel, according to town documents.
The upper parking lot on the property would have 35 spaces – up from 15. The lower lot, which is steep, would be increased from 28 spaces to 31, with accommodations added to make it handicap-accessible and overall more user-friendly.
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In addition to emergency access, stormwater management, lighting and landscaping, the architect’s project description also addresses open-space priorities.
“There will be no impact to the resources along the Kennebunk River,” according to the project documents. “There is an extensive trail system on the monastery property that will provide access to guests.”
A few trees will be taken down in the back of the hotel to make life-safety improvements and create access for emergency personnel and better egress for pedestrians, according to town documents.
Metcalfe told the Site Plan Review Board that the renovation, once complete, is not expected to create more traffic for the hotel at the property.
Metcalfe said the Guest House tends to have three stages of operation throughout any given year. The hotel usually has an occupancy rate of 20% or less during the off-season months of January through April and November. In May, June, October, and December, that rate is between 25% and 50%, according to Metcalfe. The hotel has its highest rate of room occupancy – between 50% and 90% – during the traditional tourist times between July and September, he added.
“It isn’t a case where 65 rooms are occupied 100% of the time, 365 days a year,” Metcalfe said. “The generation of traffic flow really is minimal.”
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