Sale of the Metropolitan Hotel property, Oak Bluffs, which was largely destroyed by fire some weeks ago, was announced on Tuesday by Rodney D. Marks, former owner, who said that the property has been purchased by Krikor (Jerry) Barmakian, former restaurant proprietor, also of Oak Bluffs. Mr. Barmakian left the Island on Tuesday morning, to be gone for several days, and thus cou1d not be located, but Mr. Marks said that it had been arranged that he and his partner, Joseph Taylor, who had purchased the drug store in the block shortly before the fire, would occupy a store in the block, following construction of a new building by Mr. Barmakian.

 

Albert E. Holmes, Oak Bluffs postmaster, said that the proposed plan for reconstruction, subject to the approval of the postal authorities, will call for a postoffice abutting on Park avenue and Kennebec avenue, as before. It will be larger than the previous office and completely equipped with new fixtures, which have already been ordered in anticipation of a new building. He said further that the plan will call for two stores on Circuit avenue.

 

 

The proposed building will be but one story in height, and will be slightly shorter in its frontage on Circuit avenue, to allow a driveway connecting Circuit avenue and Kennebec. Lengthwise of the building and separating the stores from the postoffice will be a hallway, supplying rear entrances for all establishments in the building. Construction, as planned, will be fire-resistant, with modern fronts on the stores and office. An eight-foot cellar under the entire building is also included in the plan, together with a central heating system.

 

Although no contract had been awarded up to Tuesday, contact had been made with Leo Loranger of New Bedford. Mr. Loranger was the builder of the new school building in Oak Bluffs.

 

In the meantime the present building is being razed by the Colby Construction

Company of Vineyard Haven, probably the first time in the history of the Island that power cranes have been used for this purpose. Mr. Colby said that his contract called for wrecking the upper three stories of the building and leaving the ground floor intact as far as possible.

 

The fire which gutted the old hotel was one of the most serious in the history of the town and perhaps the Island. Because of its height, the size of the structure and the freezing weather which prevailed, fighting the fire was particularly difficult, and the business center of the town was seriously threatened. The combined firefighting forces of the three down-Island towns, the state forest reservation and the naval air station, were engaged in the task and the fire was confined almost entirely to the building where it started.

 

Postoffice inspectors, who visited Oak Bluffs shortly after the fire, offered the assurance that if a new building is constructed, plans and specifications for a new postoffice will be supplied and a lease of it taken by the government. It is assumed, therefore, that this plan will be carried out in full.