There was something special that Robin Collinson saw in the old, worn and neglected Clermont Hotel that made her want to buy the town landmark when a local bank placed it on foreclosure sale four years ago. Collinson had to talk her business partner — and mom, Phyllis Henson — into buying the property for $125,000 after the bank refused to take less. After persuading her mother, they began the arduous and expensive task of renovating the two-story hotel built in 1905. Together, they turned the building with 20 rooms upstairs into a popular event center they call the Clermont Venue. Money brought in from renting out the venue for weddings, reunions, birthdays, baby and bridal showers and catering events goes right back into making improvements on the landmark at 101 Dean St. in downtown Clermont. Collinson said that’s why her heart sank when she was called early Tuesday morning to let her know that Irma’s tropical storm gusts had ripped the balcony off the front of the building. Boards and pieces of wood littered the street.