ELLENVILLE – The ornate light fixtures in the cavernous lobby have gone dark. The front desk is empty, the phones silent, the rooms vacant. The Nevele Grande Resort and Hotel, an iconic fixture of Ellenville and Wawarsing, is closed. Despite all of this, General Manager Sandra Young has faith that in a month's time, she'll be able to unlock the resort's front doors.

"We're closed for a month until either Joel [Hoffman, the property owner] comes up with funding or a new buyer — somebody comes up with an offer," she said. Young, along with Convention Manager Lori Jamison, sat down to an interview on Monday in the hotel's lobby. According to Jamison, the month long closure is "more of a reorganization" while the resort's owner, Joel Hoffman, works out a new means of funding the resort. Hoffman will try to raise capital or, in the best case scenario, finally find a buyer for the property, which has been for sale since March, 2008.

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