Fairfield - The Gerald Hotel has been a fixture in Fairfield since the turn of the 20th century.

The Gerald Hotel opened in 1900. It had a grand life once, but it closed in 1937. After that, there was a furniture business there for years. A year and a half ago, an idea was hatched to bring this historical building back to life as senior housing.

"It's one of the top ten most endangered historical buildings in the state and so we were very eager to be a part of this and we are really excited and very pleased with the work that's been done so far,"said David Gilpatrick, the energy director at Kennebec Valley Community Action Program.

This project is not as easy one.

"Without the structural integrity of the building, it's hard to get stuff back to where you want it or to where it was before. A lot of the major beams are cut off and a lot of the old bearing partition walls were taken out and no support put back in afterwards. So, that's why we had a lot of sags in the floors that we had to take out and try to get leveled out," said Homer Salisbury, project manager with Sheridan Construction.

Preservation of the hotel's original state is the number one goal, which makes Fairfield resident Kerri Marion very happy. She's been instrumental in capturing the historical value of the old hotel and sharing it with a large following on Facebook.

"I'm glad it wasn't just plowed to the ground. They're actually trying to keep it as original as humanly possible and that is amazing," said Marion.

It seems everyone involved with the renovation can't get enough of the surprises that are buried inside the building.

"The unique part is finding the old wallpapers, the craftsmanship that's gone now. I mean, we don't see that craftsmanship anymore now. I can visualize those people sitting there doing this labor and and working with their hands and creating a life for themselves. A lot of it had been covered up from prior construction and we're uncovering that now to bring a lot of that stuff back to its original state the way it was," said Salisbury.

"There are a lot of people here and they have been for all of their lives and remember when it was open and they are absolutely in awe over it," said Marion.

With a grand opening planned for the 28 units in the fall, time will tell what else will be uncovered at the Gerald Hotel.

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