The planning board got a first look at a plan Tuesday afternoon to recreate a section of the Inn at Cooperstown that was demolished in the late 1950s. The addition will add eight rooms to the inn's current 17.

Inn owners Marc and Sherry Kingly presented the two-phase plan to the board which calls for building an annex to the inn across the north driveway that would serve as a residence for the owners and the three-story addition to the south end of the inn.

The construction of the two-story annex residence requires the demolition of an existing outbuilding which is considered a contributing structure in the historic district, according to planning board chairman Paul Kuhn.

Kuhn told the Kingsleys that there will be a number of approvals which must be obtained for the project, including the demolition permits for the structure where the annex is proposed and the existing single story apartment on the north side of the inn.

The addition to the inn will faithfully replicate the buildings existing facade, Marc Kinsgley said.

Kuhn and the board recommended that the Kingsleys investigate what is required in connection with the inn's individual listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

"You have to get all that straightened out," he said.

They must also obtain a special use permit from the board of trustees to expand the hotel which is located in an R-2 residential zone.

Kuhn said everything is conditioned on their ability to get approval from the trustees for that permit. If they can not get that approval there would little reason to move forward with the review process, he said.

The proposal will also require variances from the zoning board of appeals for setbacks.

Marc Kingsley said after the meeting that if everything works out, they hope to build the annex next year and in the fall of 2006 begin construction of the three-story addition.

He said the addition will result in a net gain of eight rooms for the inn which he believes are needed in the downtown area. When the addition is complete he expects they will hire three or four new employees.

"This is going to be exciting. The inn is a great building and we want to put back to how it was," he said.