By Lindsay Cates and Lyssa Test
On Saturday, John and Carole Spence sat on a bench facing Virginia’s Natural Bridge, the exact spot where they said their wedding vows to each other 25 years ago. Carole brought her sketchbook and John brought a camera in an attempt to take the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley back home to Richmond.
Soon visitors to the Natural Bridge may be visiting a state park, despite the financial setbacks facing current owner Tom Clarke.
“I don’t want to say it was a well planned out decision,” Clarke said. “I think it may be like it was with Thomas Jefferson and Mr. Puglisi, who owned it before us—more of an emotional decision.”
Clarke, president and CEO of Kissito Healthcare in Roanoke, established the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund and purchased all 1.6 acres in February 2014. Clarke planned to transition as much of the property as possible into a state park once he paid back a $9.1 million loan from the Virginia Resources Authority.
The original goal was to have that paid by the end of 2015. That did not happen. Instead, Clarke barely made his first loan payment, fell way behind on taxes, and has failed to pay the construction company responsible for more than $5 million in hotel renovations.
On top of that, Clarke said the number of visitors to the bridge itself is down about 10 percent and the number of visitors to the Natural Bridge Caverns is down more than 20 percent. He attributes the drop in attendance to cuts in advertising spending. His company was unable to print and distribute brochures last year and had to give up billboard space on Interstate 81.
“People have said, ‘Wow, it cost you a lot more than you expected; did you do your due diligence?’ ” Clarke said. “I sort of joke with them by saying, ‘Goodness gracious no; if we had done our due diligence we never would have bought it!’ ”
Last year the Natural Bridge Hotel stayed open all year, but for this year’s off-season, which has just begun, the hotel will be open to guests only Thursday night through Saturday night. It will resume full operations in the spring, he said, and at the peak of the summer the hotel employs about 150 people. Clarke said half that number work during the low season.
Despite the ongoing issues, Clarke is adamant the property will transition to a state park by June 15, 2016—a date he targeted because it’s the 80th anniversary of the state park system of Virginia. He said Friday that he will announce a new partnership this week.
“As a result of bringing in that partner the lien for the construction contractor will be fully satisfied, the bank debt will be financed and there will be new capital to operate the hotel,” Clarke said.
Bringing in a partner is one of five critical steps that Clarke says need to happen for success. The first was paying the overdue taxes, which Clarke did on Friday when he personally delivered a check for more than $100,000.
The other steps include refinancing the hotel debt, which he hopes will happen in the coming weeks, restructuring the loan from the Virginia Resources Authority, and completely focusing on marketing for the next year.
County Administrator Spencer Suter said he is aware of Clarke’s efforts and is optimistic about Natural Bridge’s future.
“Visitor attendance to the bridge has dropped and they’ve had financial difficulties over the past few months, but I am very confident that this will become a state park,” said Suter. “Plus, when it does become a state park more and more people will want to come here and spend their money in Rockbridge County.”
This year Clarke has paid $175,000 of the $910,000 annual loan payment, but said he is requesting a 20-year restructuring to reduce the amount to $455,000 per year instead. When the land is donated to the state, Clarke expects to receive tax credits of close to $1.5 million. For help with the remaining money owed, Clarke is looking for donors.
Clarke said he “is confident that we’ll have that money next year by June 15 or before or after.” The plan is to look for those donors during the low season.
“I think we’re all heading in the right direction,” Clarke said. “It’s just a matter of persistence and tenacity and if one thing doesn’t work then we’re trying a different strategy and I think we’ll get there.”
As Carole Spence sat sketching the bridge, she said she and John had visited several times since exchanging vows 25 years ago, and they plan to return to say them again. They were pleased to hear of the plan for the bridge to become a state park in the near future.
“Maybe legally on a piece of paper Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund owns it, but it’s always been for the people,” Clarke said. “It’s our bridge.”
For a visual history of Natural Bridge, click on this story by Lyssa Test.