Grantham
The board reached that conclusion after a roughly 90 minute discussion on Thursday with Gray Ledges residents and others, some of whom insisted the board uphold its original condition of the 1989 subdivision approval that states the brick building must be saved and repaired.
Board member C. Peter James, repeatedly told Gray Ledges residents that he needed to know what comes next.
“We need to have you come back and say it is ludicrous to spend $500,000 (restoration) but here is what we are going to do,” James said. “Compromise is still on the table but you are not telling us anything. You want us to say, ‘Yes, you can tear it down, and trust us, we’ll be back.’ ”
Board chairman Carl Hanson expressed a similar view, telling Gray Ledges members that in order to receive a waiver on the subdivision condition that the building be restored, “we need to know what will follow. It is what we have been asking for since April.”
The building’s condition is so poor it is only used for bathrooms and as an entrance to the outdoor pool.
The condominium association had previously told the board that it would cost at least $500,000 to save the building and that figure was backed up in a report by Bedard and Preservation LLC of Gilmanton, N.H., that was submitted to the board prior to Thursday’s meeting.
The report, which included photographs, referenced several problem areas, including severe water damage.
While the report stated that had the building’s needs been adequately addressed years ago it could have been saved, it concluded that the $500,000 estimate for restoration was accurate.
“As a matter of fact, that number could be low in my estimation,” the engineer said. “The bottom line is that this building could still be saved. … It will just take time and money.”
In a letter to the Planning Board that was part of the report, the Gray Ledges Board of Directors said they initially wanted to restore the building but the cost is prohibitive and currently it is “uninsurable and unsafe.”
Demolition with replacement of a smaller structure is the most cost effective solution, the directors said.
Residents at the meeting said they did not want the association to be let off the hook and allow demolition of a historic building while others worried that rescinding the condition of restoration could set a precedent that would undermine conditions set in other board approvals in the future harder to enforce.
“Grantham will lose forever an important part of its history,” said resident Cindy Towle, who called Gray Ledge’s failure to maintain the building “demolition by neglect.”
During the board meeting, the history that led to this point was rehashed by the board and audience. The developer of the property, Earl Thompson, was granted a subdivision about 30 years ago that stipulated the farmhouse had to be refurbished.
Johnathan Gilday, a Gray Ledges resident, focused his remarks on the word “refurbish” and said Thompson, who sold the property to the association several years ago, had met the requirement by removing some parts of the building, putting on a new roof and painting the brick, which was made in Grantham.
“I think what we have today is a building that met its obligation, but it has not been maintained,” Gilday said. “I don’t see (in the minutes) anywhere we were told to maintain it. We fulfilled our obligation in my view to refurbish that building.”
Gilday’s argument did not convince the board, which reiterated its demand for a replacement plan that would have a similar look to the farmhouse. Gilday also said the association would commission an architectural survey of the property prior to demolition, with photographs, and save some of the bricks and other historical features of the construction.
Attorney Sheridan Brown, who has been actively working to see that the board enforces its conditions, sounded a conciliatory note during the meeting about the circumstances and suggested a middle ground that “strikes a balance that keeps the history but at the same time does not impose an unreasonable burden.”.
“I don’t think you can give something up and say sure, demolish it without having the (replacement) plan in place,” Brown said as the meeting wound down.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
