New Gamble Mill owners plan to ‘flip back pages of time’ at historic Bellefonte building
It took Chris and Jonathan Virgilio eleven 40-yard dumpsters to clean out their latest project — the Gamble Mill. Now, the building that sat vacant for nearly five years is gearing up to open this year.
Brothers and owners of Virgilio Investments IV LLC, Chris and Jonathan acquired the 160 Dunlap St. property in June, following a yearlong buying process of one of Bellefonte’s oldest buildings. Using the summer for demolition, the brothers are working to restore the mill to its 18th century state with a few upgrades. With an anticipated opening date of fall 2020, the mill will be home to a restaurant and pub, short-term suites and retail space.
“It sat for five years, so it needs a lot of love,” Jonathan Virgilio said Friday at the annual meeting for the Bellefonte Intervalley Chamber of Commerce. “In the future, we’re looking at doing a lot of restoration.”
While the mill will be updated, Jonathan Virgilio said he and his brother want to maintain the same atmosphere and keep it as “nostalgic as possible.” One aspect of the Gamble Mill that won’t change is its name.
“The fact of the matter is, what do people remember this as? They remember it as the Gamble Mill,” he said. “As much as I would love to change its name to the original person that erected the structure, I think keeping it to what people are familiar with, where ... there are so many good memories, I don’t want to disrupt that.”
Entrances into a common lobby are planned at the east and west sides of the structure where it will service the restaurant, brew pub and two retail spaces. The structure will also be updated for ADA-accessibility.
“We’re actually going to flip back pages of time and have it all be completely open and have it be a grand entrance the way that it was and intended back when the mill was there, where horses came in,” Jonathan Virgilio said.
The restaurant will not be managed by the Virgilio brothers. Instead, an outside business operator will run that part of the business; however, the brothers will be in charge of what is served and how the interior is designed. The business manager will be announced soon, Jonathan Virgilio said.
“I think the design is kind of timeless,” he said. “We’re actually going to be fitting out the restaurant. We sort of want our hands to be on it. We don’t want anything too eclectic to be done, so I’d say it’s going to be pretty similar to how you guys remember it.”
Jonathan Virgilio said he wants the restaurant menu to be able to “reach every type of person,” but said it “will not be another pizza place.”
The Virgilios saw “untapped potential” in the unfinished upper floors of the property. Wanting to expand the mill’s appeal without directly competing with the nearby planned boutique hotel, Jonathan Virgilio said there will be two one-room suites, four two-bedroom suites and two three-bedroom suites. To highlight the building’s features, he said they want to have as much exposed brick in the suites as possible.
Working with Bellefonte’s Historic Architectural Review Board, he said they plan to restore the mill’s windows, flooring, lighting, masonry and exterior to make sure it is preserved and structurally sound.
“We feel a lot of responsibility to do this right,” Jonathan Virgilio said. “It pretty much needs to be completely redone ... but we’re going to keep all the historical components.”
Renovations are expected to begin in March, and the mill is expected to be open by September.
“It may be a little ambitious, but hey, why not?” he said. “We’ll see.”
To keep up with progress at the site, visit https://www.facebook.com/bftgamblemill/.
This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
