39 West Main Will Get Wrecking Ball

Without delay, the town has the go-ahead to knock down the building at 39 West Main St.

The Historical Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday night that the structure is not considered "historically significant."

When demolition of a structure in town is requested, and the structure is more than 100 years old, the Historical Commission is required to vote on its significance, and then make suggestions to the owner based on its findings. If it is deemed significant, this automatically institutes a delay on the demolition of 180 days.

The town, which took ownership of the condemned property through foreclosure, requested the demolition of the building on Oct. 2.

According to records, the original structure at 39 W. Main St. was built in 1898, originally a residence and converted to a commercial property in 1945.

The Historical Commission voted unanimously that the building is "not historically significant," and also voted to allow immediate demolition. 

"Overall, it has lost much of its integrity," said Normand Corbin, chair of the commission.

Brian Smith, board member, added, "It doesn't represent any period of architecture in town that we are familiar with and no one has come forward about it."

In a letter to the commission, Town Administrator said the property is "structurally unsound" and the "town plans to demolish this as soon as possible."

Letters to the commission indicated that the town hoped to remove the building while construction is underway for the Downtown Improvement Project.

The recommendations to the town from the Historical Commission will include salvaging any valuable beams or boards from the interior, a well as keeping any new property there "within the historical nature of the town."