Historic Building to be Demolished

Four years ago, the City of Waterbury adopted a Demolition Delay Ordinance designed to help prevent the destruction of historic buildings in the city. The first test of the ordinance arrived last month, when the owner of 30 Central Avenue, Building 2 (formerly 38-40 Central Avenue) filed paperwork to demolish the building. The owner's only stated goal is to make space for the church next door.

The house is a contributing building to the Hillside Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.  

A petition to save the building has been started on Change.org.

30 Central Ave, Building 2 (38-40 Central Avenue)

 The building is in need of repair, but considering that the real estate market is thriving, it seems likely that the cost of repair would be quickly offset by either selling the building or renting the apartments.

The house was built during the 1890s in the Queen Anne style as a multi-family building. While many of the historic homes in the Hillside neighborhood were built as singe-families and have since been chopped up into an odd mess of small apartments, this building was designed to have apartments, with a carriage house in the back of the property.

I don't think anyone has done a survey of Waterbury's Victorian-era apartment buildings, but I suspect there aren't very many that have survived. It would be a shame to lose this one.

Scroll down for more photos of the building.

 

Demolition Delay

A three-month delay of demolition was triggered about a month ago when I sent a letter of objection to the City Building Official objecting to the demolition.

If there is a strong public interest in saving the building, advocates at Preservation Connecticut will assist in working with the building owner to find an alternative to demolition. In some cases, where there is very strong public interest but the building owner is determined to demolish a building, the case can be taken up by the State Attorney General.

The best way to see if there is strong public interest in stopping a demolition is to start a petition. If you'd like to show your support for saving this building, you can sign the petition on Change.org.