A storied Luzerne County hotel and resort has been shut down by Plains Township for code violations after power was shut off to the facility on Monday.
Code officials were called to The Woodlands Inn and Resort on state Route 315 around 7:30 p.m. Monday to temporarily condemn the facility because it had no electric and no heat said Jason Humenanski, president of BHW Construction Consultation Services, who serves as the township's building code official.
"I guess somebody had called 911, and they did dispatch the fire department. That's what I understand," Humenanski said.
The building cannot be occupied without heat and electricity — which is required for safety systems, in addition to light and other uses.
The power was shut off due to non-payment, Humenanski added, and it wasn't immediately clear when it would be turned back on.
"It's just, they've got to pay their bills," he said.
A call to the Woodlands' front desk immediately disconnected.
A spokesperson for PPL Electric utilities did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.
The roadside sign outside The Woodlands along state Route 315 was dark Tuesday, but a bright orange sign on the property's front door indicated that the building is no longer safe for occupancy, as Humenanski explained.
There were few cars in the normally busy resort's parking lot on Tuesday afternoon, and the only sign of life was a white pickup truck, whose occupant asked a reporter to leave.
The three-star resort, which was long owned by members of the Kornfeld family, was sold to investment group Shree Neelkanth Realty LLC in 2022.
Members of the family said that they would continue to operate the hotel through a new company, Valenfeld Hospitality Group.
That company's website states that "Mitch Kornfeld and Ross Kornfeld operate one of Northeast Pennsylvania’s most steadfast and recognizable hotel and conference center brands, The Woodlands near Scranton."
WVIA News sent a message to the firm through a contact form on the website Tuesday afternoon seeking comment.
The resort initially opened in 1969 as a Treadway Inn. It grew to include a range of amenities, including 150 rooms, restaurants, a popular bar and dance club, convention facilities, a spa/salon, pool and a bridal garden — all in a suburban setting squeezed between busy Route 315 and a wooded ravine along Laurel Run below Interstate 81.
