Inn may have new owners

A borough official says someone has asked about transferring licenses and permits for the Stockton Inn, which has been closed for more than a month.

By: Linda Seida
   STOCKTON — Colligan’s Stockton Inn stands dark now, but it may not stay that way too much longer.
   The inn’s doors have remained closed for more than a month, but a potential buyer’s representative has inquired at Borough Hall about the transfer of licenses and permits, according to Councilman Andrew Giannattasio.
   "It appears that they’re negotiating a sale," Mr. Giannattasio said.
   He would not name the representative or the potential buyer, saying they preferred not to be named while negotiations are under way.
   "The contract is not written in stone, and, therefore, they don’t want names or information given out," Mr. Giannattasio said.
   A message left on the inn’s answering machine has not been returned. A sign in the window has attributed the closing to the difficulties presented by last year’s bridge closing and the floods in April 2005 and September 2004.
   A directory of bed-and-breakfast inns on the Web site BBDirectory.com says the Stockton Inn’s listing is currently inactive.
   The inn could reopen next year, according to Mr. Giannattasio.
   "It’ll just be a matter of how long," he said, "how long for the right person to come along."
   A good part of Stockton’s history is tied to the inn.
   "Fifty years ago, families would gather there, and people would gather after work," Mr. Giannattasio said.
   The town’s identity, too, is associated with the Stockton Inn.
   "People say, ‘Hey, that’s the town with the great liquor store or the great restaurant,’" Mr. Giannattasio said. "When they say, ‘I know Stockton,’ you know their next words are either going to be Phillips (Fine Wines) or the Stockton Inn."
   The inn was built in 1710 as a private residence from stone mined in local quarries. According to the inn’s history, a tavern license was issued in 1796, and in 1859, the inn went by the name Hockenbury’s Hotel.
   It was changed to Colligan’s in 1914 when owner Elizabeth Weiss married Joe Colligan, a bartender at the inn, who also was an artist.
   Songwriters Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart contributed to the fame of both the inn and the town with their ballad, "There’s a Small Hotel With a Wishing Well," which was first sung on Broadway in 1936 in "On Your Toes." The song was intended for the Broadway production, "Jumbo," a year earlier, but was cut.
   A year earlier, history and the inn collided when reporters and lawyers connected to the infamous Bruno Hauptmann trial in Flemington slept and dined there. Mr. Hauptmann, who maintained his innocence, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1932 kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s infant son.
   In summer, outdoor dining was popular. Hanging baskets of brightly colored flowers graced the veranda and the balconies.
   "It’s such a beautiful building," Mr. Giannattasio said. Now, however, "It’s a little drab and dreary."
   Jack Boehlert, who owned the 11-room inn since 1998, sold it to Kevin MacDonald, Laurence Sibrack and Ira Gouterman in 2003.