River Inn back in the limelight

After more than two years, the spectre of the River Inn has reared it's ugly head again in the Newcastle downtown.For the better part of year, I watched as strange events swirled around the River Inn motel on the corner of Newcastle Boulevard and Pleasant Street. Reporting on the River Inn was like stepping into an episode of X-Files or the Twilight Zone. Strange things just seemed to happen there. All the time.I first met Sam Kumar, the representative of the owners of the building, back in 2003. Kumar was trying to unload the rundown motel on anyone with the cash to take it off his hands. Many of the tenants in the building were involved in drugs and crime and it was not a rare site to see a police cruiser parked there with it's lights on.One day when Kumar was in Florida, a Russian by the name of Alexander Yalkut showed up claiming he was the new owner and gave a $40,000 cheque to Miramichi contractor Fred Gallan to demolish the inside of the motel. So Gallan's men gutted the place. Payday came and the men wanted to get paid. Gallan brings the cheque to the bank and discovers it's not worth the paper it's printed on. Gallan's workers really don't care where the money comes from, they just know they've got bills to pay. Gallan had to stretch to find the money to pay the men and suffered financially for it. Gallan died last year from a heart attack.Yalkut disappeared and was last spotted in a Toronto mental hospital.The River Inn was supposed to have changed hands on a few other occasions, but Sam Kumar is still representing the owners and there's a new For Sale sign on the building as of last week.Kumar also has an interest in the former Thornes building on Newcastle Boulevard."We were thinking of making it into something but don't have any ideas. Do you have any ideas?" Kumar asked me Thursday morning. In the mean time they're just sprucing the rundown building up a bit, he said."It's a company that owns it. I'm a shareholder."Now the rundown River Inn motel is back in the limelight.A letter is posted on the front of the River Inn signed by city manager Jim Lamkey.The letter says the dilapidated condition of the motel is a violation of by-law 73 respecting dangerous and unsightly premises. The letters says the building is dangerous because the railings on the second floor are broken and homeless people are living in the motel with open fires and no electricity. As well the property is not protected from vandals.The letter ordered the building be repaired by Sept. 8, 2006.Failure to comply will result of the demolition of the building without further notice and may result in legal action from the city, the letter added."Be advised this is a serious matter requiring your immediate attention."Kumar said he has engaged a new agent to sell the building."It's making the downtown look bad," he said. "It reflects badly on the downtown."