With the future of the centuries-old King George Inn still up in the air, local residents gathered at the Lehigh County Heritage Museum Sept. 12 to discuss potential ways to preserve the historic landmark in South Whitehall Township.

First opened in 1756, the King George Inn, a popular inn during the American Revolution, once hosted former president, John Adams, and his cousin Samuel.

The inn was designated a historic site in the 1976 National Register of Historic Places.

The King George Inn has been closed since 2012 due to financial problems.

Owner Cliff McDermott is considering an offer from developer Atul Patel, whose plans would see the historic building demolished due to storm damage.

In its place, a bank would be built due to the location's prime visibility on the corner of Hamilton and Cedar Crest boulevards.

In an effort to save the inn, Erin Hammerstedt of Preservation Pennsylvania, a non-profit devoted to historically and architecturally significant places across the state, presented an array of alternatives to demolition to an audience of King George Inn supporters.

"I feel differently now just being in this room than I did when I was preparing this presentation in my office," Hammerstedt said. "I see a lot of buildings…and it's hard to get excited about every single one.

"I feel better about this one, seeing there are people who care."

Former King George Inn employee, Dean Ziegler, started an online petition in July to save the building.

The site has more than 2,000 signatures, so far.

"The building itself has a lot of energy," Ziegler said. "And, as a small businessman, I'm seeing too many corporations driving every small business out of business."

Susan McDermott, sister-in-law of Cliff McDermott, also commented on the inn.

"The building has always been something special for me," Susan McDermott said. "When I heard they were talking about demolishing it, I had to do something about it.

"We all need to get together and realize we have to preserve our history. Once something like that is torn down, it's gone forever and I don't want to see that happen.

"If we band together as an organized group and present this in the proper way, I think we can do something about preserving the King George Inn building."

One of Hammerstedt's main ideas for preserving the inn was by rehabilitating the building, either through the developer or by the community.

Hammerstedt presented a variety of financial incentives, such as tax credits and grants the developer could benefit from if he agreed to rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation through the community has also proved effective in other areas, such as Lower Providence Township, where the historic Audubon Inn was successfully preserved.

According to Mike Siegel, a former planner in Lower Providence, a CVS was going to be built on the Audubon Inn property.

However, because of the groundswell of community support for the landmark, township officials decided to find a way to preserve the historic building that, like the King George Inn, suffered storm damage.

"What shortly happened thereafter was really unique," Siegel said.

CVS, which bought the entire property, leased the Audubon Inn to a group of local attorneys who were willing to restore the building to house their offices.

Then, when it came time to build the CVS, it was designed and constructed to emulate the Audubon Inn.

This integration of old and new earned the 2008 Montgomery County Land Development Award for "collaborative effort and effective site design."

Collaboration was chief among Hammerstedt's ideas for preserving the King George Inn.

"Sometimes we need to just say 'What is stopping you from doing this?' and help him do it," Hammerstedt said.

Supporters spent the remainder of the meeting working together creating a committee to raise awareness of King George Inn's situation through social media exposure, political advocacy and by collaborating with the Lower Macungie Historical Society.

South Whitehall resident Nancy Lloyd, who will serve as co-chair with Susan McDermott on the committee, urged supporters to attend the South Whitehall Township zoning hearing board meeting on Oct. 3.

"That may be the last opportunity to show up, show how many people are interested, and to ask questions," Lloyd said.

"I have some optimism the developer is concerned about the community's perception of this…but people need to show up."