CLAREMONT — Ten weeks after a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by state, county and city officials in mid-May for the new sober housing facility in downtown Claremont, the building remains unoccupied because the elevator is inoperable.
County Manager Derek Ferland said this week that they have ordered a new elevator because finding parts for the old one became too much of an obstacle, and there was no guarantee it would work again.
“It made more sense to spend $100,000 rather than $40,000 with no guarantee,” Ferland said Tuesday. “The availability of parts was the main issue. The company that made the elevator is no longer in business.”
Ferland did not know the age of the elevator in the Sullivan House at 19 Sullivan St. The building was constructed in 1930 and is best known as the onetime home of the Eagle Times newspaper.
When renovations began, Ferland said the elevator worked. Power to the building was shut off for an extended period time during renovations and after it was restored, Ferland said the elevator went up and down once and never worked again.
The county has ordered a new elevator, but it will be up to 16 weeks for manufacturing, shipping and installation, Ferland said. With a firm plan in place for a new elevator, Ferland said he will meet with city officials and seek conditional approval for occupancy. Steve Coombs, Claremont’s building inspector, could not be reached for comment.
Planning and Development Director Nancy Merrill said Thursday that temporary certificates of occupancy are allowed under the building code and have been issued in the past.
“The building inspector has to be shown that the building is safe,” Merrill said. “There can be things left on a list (to do) that don’t impact safety.”
Sullivan House has been several years in the making, after two previous locations were abandoned. The facility’s overarching goal is to provide safe, affordable housing for those in recovery from substance abuse.
To qualify for Sullivan House, residents, both male and female, cannot have violent offenses on their record and must have successfully completed the Transitional Reentry and Inmate Life Skills, or TRAILS, program at the Community Corrections Center. Once at Sullivan House, residents will have to be employed and will pay monthly rent. They will also be responsible for buying and preparing their meals and other normal household chores, as the program’s goal is to help them transition back into society.
The Sullivan House renovations began in the spring of 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and consequently supply chain issues caused delays in the predicted completion date, pushing it back from late last year.
The $3.24 million project, which included purchase of the property, was funded in part by a $1.3 million loan from New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority; a $1.1 million bond; $500,000 from a Community Development Block Grant; $50,000 from the USDA Rural Development Grant, Community Facilities Grant Program; and $100,000 from Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, on behalf of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
