Claremont
“It is all very preliminary,” said Sullivan County manager Derek Ferland. “We are trying now to position ourselves to apply for some grants that are due in January.”
At its regular meeting on Jan. 9, the City Council will hold a public hearing on the possible sale of the building to the county. The agenda only states “Sullivan County — request to purchase real estate” for transitional housing.
The School Street building, built in 1950 as a National Guard Armory, was most recently a roller skating venue before being shut down by the city in 2014 because of a host of code violations.
It has sat vacant since.
The building is roughly 17,000 square feet with just over half are considered usable. The latest assessed value from 2014 is $702,900, according to the city’s assessing records.
The city placed the brick building on the market in April 2015 but has had little to no interest from potential buyers.
The cost of renovations, including bringing the bathrooms up to code, and very limited parking were seen as the main barriers to a private sector sale.
Previously, county officials had considered a privately owned building at 169 Main St. for possible use for transitional housing. But those plans were abandoned in January 2017 because the estimated cost of renovations came in at more than $1 million, which was deemed too expensive by county officials. At the time, the county was planning to apply for a $750,000 grant to help pay for renovations.
Subsequently, county officials continued to search for other properties in the county to buy or lease but did not want to exceed a total project cost of $500,000.
Under the Main Street plan, there would have been dormitory-style residences with units for up to 16 men and eight women who would spend an average of three to six months at the facility as they re-integrate into the community after having served their sentence.
The only inmates eligible would have had to successfully complete the House of Corrections TRAILS (Transitional Reentry and Inmate Life Skills) program and be ready to move into the aftercare program. Sobriety for at least eight month is also a requirement to be considered for transitional housing, county officials said when it considered the Main Street location.
A supervisor would be on site 24/7.
Ferland said last week that it is too early at this point to provide a detailed description of how the JSL building might be utilized and renovated.
Ferland also said if the county were to use the building for housing, it would like keep open the large gymnasium and perhaps allow it to be used again by the community for recreational purposes.
“It could be a community facility with transitional housing on one side and a physical wall separating the spaces,” Ferland said, adding that repurposing would likely have a beneficial effect on the neighborhood.
The county has engaged the services of an architect to develop cost estimates to bring the building up to code and make it suitable for transitional housing, Ferland said, adding that the county plans to have a direct dialogue with residents in the School Street area about the transitional housing idea.
The county provide counseling and other services after release, but does not have housing and officials have previously said that is a critical component to help to further improve the recidivism rate of TRAILs’ participants, which is already significantly below the state average.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
