Preservation vs. safety: Plan to demolish Portsmouth Daniel Street building debated

PORTSMOUTH — The Historic District Commission voted to recommend the city hire an independent preservation engineer to help determine if an 1850s-era home can be rebuilt or if it has to be demolished as the owner wants.

The HDC's vote last week came after a lengthy meeting where owner Sean Peters sought its approval to demolish the existing building at 95 Daniel St. — formerly home to John’s Barber Shop — while committee members and residents argued the historic structure should be preserved.

Peters had previously received approval from the HDC in October 2022 to try to restore the historic downtown building.

But he and his representatives returned to the HDC Wednesday night seeking instead to demolish the structure after work began on the project.

Peters listed a series of problems crews have faced since restoration work began, including discovering that workers during a previous renovation of the former barber shop “(demolished) the top foot of the foundation.”

“In doing so that whole floor system is actually below grade so there’s water intruding into the rim joists and the floor joists,” he said.

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They would need to rebuild the entire foundation and floor system, he added.

“So that leads you to the question what do we do, do we jack the whole building up,” Peters said. “I don’t think we could jack this building up without it falling in on itself.”

A portion of the building is also leaning several inches, he said.

He told the HDC because of the “numerous alterations” done to the building over time, the building’s structural integrity has been “severely diminished.”

City inspector recommends building be razed

Peters also read from a report written by Portsmouth’s Chief Building Inspector Shanti Wolph.

Wolph stated that in order to “restore or renovate the structure to meet code compliance, a complete replacement of the structural frame is necessary.”

“Given the current state of the structure to ensure safe working environment for construction personnel, I recommend the building be razed,” the city’s chief building inspector said.

Peters added that in order to conduct a restoration, “you have to have something to restore.”

“In order to get a building permit, in order to ever get a certificate of occupancy, I have to rebuild virtually every structural element,” he said. “At that point …what’s going to be left over and what are we really saving.”

He noted the current approval already calls for installing “new siding, new windows, a majority of new trim, new decks and doors.”

Residents ask HDC to preserve historic building

But Richards Avenue resident Karen Bouffard was one of several people who urged the HDC to work to preserve the historic building.

“I am firmly convinced that that building on Daniel Street can be saved,” she said. “It’s not an easy process, it’s an important part of the downtown. All of the safety (concerns) can be corrected.”

Richard Candee is one of the founders of the Portsmouth Advocates, a preservationist group in the city.

He believes that building inspectors “always look on the worst side because that’s their job.”

“I don’t see any reason for granting a demolition permit,” he said.

Portsmouth Advocates member Peter Michaud called 95 Daniel St. “important” and said it’s “listed in the National Register as a contributing resource to the larger Portsmouth Historic District.”

It also features “a rare form of Gothic revival” architecture, he said.

He pointed out that “what we haven’t heard” from the owner “is what would it take to bring the building back.”

Commissioner Martin Ryan told Peters that he couldn’t “just give you a blanket demo without a further discussion of options.”

“There are options here. I think there’s something in between where you could save the shell of the building,” Ryan said during Wednesday’s meeting in City Hall.

He too stated that “engineers always side on the calls for safety and code.”

“We’re in a different game here … we should be looking for more creative solutions,” Ryan said.

Later in the meeting, he added that he couldn’t “emphasize enough how horrible it would be to lose this building right in our downtown.”

He worried how it would look to see a hole in Daniel Street where the historic building had been, and stated he didn’t want the public “asking why the hell did we allow this to happen.”

City Councilor Rich Blalock, who also serves on the HDC, said “it’s unfortunate that once we removed the skin of this building the bones weren’t in as good as condition as we had hoped.”

Blalock: Safety trumps preservation

He referenced the letter from the chief building inspector and said “obviously safety is my number one concern being a city councilor.”

“Preserving the history is important, but not if it’s going to put someone’s life in danger, that is not acceptable,” Blalock said.

If the building were demolished, he would like to see the Gothic windows, the front door and some of the trim preserved.

Commissioner Larry Booz said, “I think you have to say, 'Am I going to approach this as a restoration project, a preservation project, or do I just want another new condo in town?'

“Those are two fundamental differences. I look at this house as a treasure,” he said. “If it goes …I think it’s a tragedy.”

Commissioner Jon Wyckoff argued that it could be restored.

“Essentially like three carpenters could sit in this building for two months and you’re going to have it totally rebuilt,” he said. “I can’t help but say that in my opinion as a contractor, it would be less money to rebuild the interior of this than it would be to tear it down (and) pour a new foundation …this thing could turn into a real nightmare.”

Wyckoff made the motion, which was approved unanimously, to continue reviewing the application “with the idea the city hire a preservation engineer” to evaluate the building and see if it “can be saved.”

The HDC is also planning to do a site walk of the historic building in the next couple of weeks.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth HDC reviews plan to demolish historic Daniel St. building