Electric service was back on at The Woodlands Inn and Resort Tuesday afternoon following Monday's power shutoff and subsequent closure by Plains Township code enforcement officials.
Plains Township Deputy Fire Chief Mike Sebia said an inspection will be required before the property can reopen.
"We will go in with code enforcement basically, and just basically do an occupancy inspection, just to make sure everything is up to snuff with their life safety stuff," Sebia said.
The building cannot be occupied without heat and electricity — which is required for safety systems, in addition to light and other uses.
Code officials were called to The Woodlands 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.
Sebia said the hotel made arrangements for guests to be relocated to another property.
The power was shut off due to non-payment, Humenanski said.
A call to the Woodlands' front desk immediately disconnected.
A PPL Electric Utilities spokesperson said the company couldn't share specific customer account information, but did confirm that power had been shut off. It was restored at about 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Sebia said he couldn't say for certain how quickly the inspection and re-opening will happen.
"I don't anticipate there being a lot of issues, but I don't know what we're going to find," he said. "There may be a few things that they may have to take care of tomorrow, you know, during the day."
Silent scene at historic resort
There were few cars in the normally busy resort's parking lot earlier Tuesday afternoon before power was restored, 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, but no response was received.
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 domininated by a brown brick high-rise tower on a property squeezed between busy Route 315 and a wooded ravine along Laurel Run near Interstate 81.
