Elmcrest site tour a productive one

PORTLAND — Daniel R. Bertram, developer of the 14.5-acre former Elmcrest land, is pursuing the second phase of a three-phase traffic authority review.

Meanwhile, the company in charge of commercial development on the former hospital site has submitted demolition plans to the town’s building official.

Town officials and members of the economic development commission walked the property last week with a member of the Portland Historical Society and representatives of the DiMarco Group.

DiMarco, a 107-year-old Rochester, N.Y.,-based company, is handling retail/ commercial development of the site. The site tour is part of an effort to catalog architectural details that might be worth saving.

Last week, First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield joined Bertram and his traffic engineer, Joseph Balskus, from the firm VHB, along with representatives of the Office of State Traffic Administration. It was the second of three scheduled appearances by Bertram’s team before the OSTA.

“It went very well,” Bransfield said.

In response to questions from state traffic officials, “VHB will provide some additional answers to OSTA. And then, hopefully, the traffic permit will proceed,” she said.

While Bransfield was in Hartford appearing before the OTSA, Building Official Lincoln White was touring the property in the company of three officials from DiMarco.

Joining them were Elwin Guild, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, Economic Development Coordinator Mary D. Dickerson, Claire Frisbie, representing the historical society, and local architect Alan McKittrick.

“We spent two hours walking the property but we did not go into any of the buildings,” Dickerson said Monday.

Three historic buildings on the property are being saved and restored as part of the project.

The tour was held to determine if there other historically and architecturally significant details in other buildings that might be worth saving, White said.

“There are some different mantels that are stored in other buildings.”

The DiMarco team was made up of Jason Van Zeilen, Philip Resmondo, who will function as the on-site superintendent; and Sunil Cheriyan, project manager.

Both Dickerson and White said DiMarco officials stand behind efforts to harvest significant interior details. “They were very supportive of what the historical society wants to do,” Dickerson said.

“And they were really impressed there was so much detail in the plans about historical and architectural details. They said they were not used to seeing this level of detail.”

Dickerson said an additional site walk is scheduled May 16.