Claremont
An advisory committee of the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission approved the project under its Brownfields Assessment Program, which received a $400,000 grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency at the end of 2016. The Opera House Square building was the first selected for the program by the Planning Commission.
A brownfields site is defined as a property that may have hazardous substances, pollutants such as petroleum, or contaminants present, said Amber Boland, of the regional planning commission, manager of the Claremont property project.
“The goal (of the brownfields program) is to put underutilized, abandoned or dangerous properties back into productive use,” Boland said.
The building, at 56 Opera House Square, next to City Hall and the opera house, was constructed around 1900. In its early years it was home to the Claremont Saving Bank. It was last used as a restaurant, which shut down around 1990. It has a total of nearly 7,000 square feet on two floors, along with an unfinished basement. Assessed at $250,400, it was bought by the Claremont Development Authority in 1995. Boland said the estimated cost for the assessment of the building is not to exceed $30,000.
Credere Associates, of Westbrook, Maine, will do the phase I and phase II assessments required under the EPA’s brownfields program.
Judd Newcomb, a geologist and project manager with Credere, said phase I will begin this week with a site visit and visual inspection looking for potential sources of contamination.
“This will give us an idea of what is there and how much,” Newcomb said. “We expect to find lead paint, asbestos and low level of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) in the building materials.”
Also part of phase I is a search of historical records, which can describe the types of businesses that were in the building. Before the restaurant, Newcomb said, he believes the building always housed a bank so there is no real concern that the operations in the building caused contamination.
A report is then filed with the EPA and state Department of Environmental Services, detailing what the inspection found.
Phase II, which could begin in May, would involving taking samples of the identified contamination and analyzing it. It will also include a plan for getting rid of the contamination.
If everything goes according to schedule, which could change depending on responses from the EPA and DES, the final report should be done this summer, Newcomb said.
Newcomb said the city could apply to the EPA for funding available for cleanup as part of its brownfield program.
The city also recently received a $10,000 grant for a building needs assessment of City Hall and the opera house and matched it with $10,500. The study will take a complete look at the historic building’s repair needs, including the copper roof.
The grant is from the state Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. Once complete, the study will allow the city to prioritize repairs to the 120-year-old building, which is on the National Historic Register.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
Correction
This story was updated to correct Judd Newcomb’s last name.
