Frustrated with Historic Afton Inn Eyesore, Resident Calls for Action

Wow, what a beautiful day. The flower baskets are incredible. Thank you to the Town and Beautification Committee. Main Street hasn’t looked better. But wait, what’s that eyesore at the end of the street? It couldn’t be the Historic Afton Inn! No way that was supposed to have been renovated into a delightful restaurant early last year. Or was it this year or when the builder got done with another project (completed a while ago)?

Yes, our favorite ruins are looking shabbier and shabbier. The windows that were boarded up with flower paintings are falling in, and the cupola on the roof has taken an ominous lean, with bricks starting to dribble dangerously down.

So where is the builder (a continuous question), and where are the town leaders – all you get from them are a shrug and “we can’t do anything about it.” The same answer comes when you ask about the other eyesores in Town. I am told that a Town bureaucrat has deemed these buildings “safe” because they have been boarded up. These rodent-infested fire traps have been vacant for well over forty years.

Forty years of inaction, scams, bribes, and embezzlement. A proud heritage. But a continued heritage nonetheless. Why have our town leaders, year after year and for decades, turned a blind eye to these piles of rubbish? There have been numerous stories about debilitating attempts by the Town to buy some of the properties.

Now that Jennifer is off to prison, the shenanigans on who got what in the under-the-table deals with the EDA. The current developer placed a sign on the fence surrounding the Afton, stating proudly, “Completion by summer 2023”. But then he started building something elsewhere and couldn’t handle two projects. On various occasions, he has refused to talk in public to the Town Council. Phone calls to his office are either not answered or not returned. The town has been handed a pile of sticks for the famed Avtex renovation/construction.

Come on, do the right thing. Tell the Zoning Board that they work for the Council AND the people. True, the Zoning mafia isn’t elected, but still. As this goes on, things start to look sketchy as to why a town would not want to put its best foot forward. Sorry, can’t blame Jennifer, COVID, or UFOs on this one.

Fritz Schwartz
Front Royal, VA

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