Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Mary Nevin wanted a bed and breakfast, but settled on a motel.
Since 1999, Nevin has owned the Northern Lights Motel, located at 72 Houlton Road, in Presque Isle.
“I was a civil service employee with the federal government for 17 years, and I became concerned about my retirement,” she said. “I realized that in order to get a ‘regular retirement,’ I would have had to work until I was 47 and I didn’t like that, so I started looking at options.
“We had attempted to purchase a motel downstate, but it didn’t pan out,” said Nevin, “and then we started talking to Dolores Pelkey, Percy Pelkey’s widow, and we bought the motel in 1999.”
According to Nevin’s records and what she’s been told, Northern Lights Motel was built in 1962 by Burton A. Tompkins Jr.
“He planned and constructed it,” she said. “It’s very well done … from the rafters on down.”
While the exterior looks somewhat similar to how it first did 45 years ago, much has been done inside the building.
“When we first got here,” said Nevin, “reservations were taken on little pieces of paper. They would write 13 names in an itty bitty block, and I didn’t like that, so one of the first things we did was get computerized.”
Nevin said her husband, Rick Bruce, created the necessary computer system to allow the reservations to be electronic, which also allows her to maintain a history of guests’ stay.
“We’re so much more organized than we used to be,” she said.
Another major advancement to the motel was improving the telephone system.
“It used to be that the phone would ring – all four lines – into the main office at all hours of the night,” said Nevin. “People would call looking for a particular guest, and we’d have to check to not only see if they were staying with us, but if they were in their room … then we’d transfer the call.
“Now, we have a recording so when you call the motel and if you know your party’s three-digit extension, which happens to be their room number, the phone rings into their motel room,” she said. “That’s probably eliminated half of the telephone calls for us.”
Over the last several years, Nevin has had two furnaces installed in the basement.
“We used to have just one, huge furnace and you’d climb down a ladder like you would if you were going into the belly of a ship,” she said. “Now we have two smaller units that have the capacity of the bigger unit. If necessary, they can both run at the same time. It’s kind of like having hot water on demand.”
Nevin said other significant changes have included the addition of two front-load, commercial washing machines in the laundry room to better accommodate the number of linens that have to be washed, as well as the construction of a new leach field.
“We purchased two acres from Cavendish Farms and constructed a new leach field in 2002,” she said. “It was constructed with future expansion in mind.”
Nevin said her home used to be inside the motel, but business kept booming to the point where they “worked themselves out of a home.”
“We literally moved ourselves out,” she said. “We turned the living room into the lobby, our bedroom became the office, and the old lobby is now where the grooming is done for Cookies and Cuts Dog & Cat Grooming [another business owned by Nevin].
“Business was so good that we had to reconfigure our living quarters,” said Nevin, “so we now live in a trailer behind the motel.”
All of the motel’s 14 rooms have been refurbished to include new wallpaper, furniture, carpeting and curtains.
Nevin said the reason for renovating the building was because she decided to make the facility a smoke-free motel.
“This is done for everybody’s health,” she said. “Not only our customers, but the girls who work with me, as well as myself. We’re all non-smokers, and when we go into smoking rooms, it’s the worst. Our eyes go, our noses go, allergies start to act up, and there’s a lot of sick leave. I think this way is for the best.”
What Nevin calls her “pride and joy” is a log cabin on the grounds that she rents out, as well.
“We bought the shell from the Amish down in Smyrna,” she said, “and we built the insides ourselves. It has a bathroom – complete with a shower – a kitchen area, television, dresser, bed … everything you would need.
“We usually rent it out to doctors who are working in the area for only a short time,” said Nevin. “They like the feeling of seclusion, plus they don’t disturb the other guests if they have to go to the hospital early in the morning.”
Plans call for an additional cabin to be erected on the eight-acre motel perhaps this summer.
The motel also features a sitting/gazebo area, storage building, a basketball court, and what is believed to be the business’ original yellow sign located near the road.
Northern Lights Motel has increased in value over the last eight years by more than $100,000.
“I knew I could provide good customer service,” said Nevin, “and that is what’s made the business successful. We have an occupancy rate of 82 percent, so I’m very happy.”
Despite the business’ success, Northern Lights Motel is on the market.
“I bought the motel because I wanted a challenge,” Nevin said. “Now that it’s doing so well, I want to find another challenge, plus I’d like to focus more on Cookies and Cuts.”
Northern Lights Motel is open from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week. For more information, call 764-4441 or log onto www.northernlightsmotel.com.
