The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Landmark building’s owner vows to rebuild
NEW HARTFORD — Nearly a month has passed since the New Hartford House was devastated by a three-alarm fire. The landmark building, which was home to six businesses and numerous tenants on the second floor, was torn down the day after the Aug. 10 blaze.
The property owner, Dhaval Patel, said he is planning to restore the historic building.
“We are still in the early stages to talk about Phase 1 for the building, and some of the reports need to be reviewed,” Patel said.
“New Hartford House was the historic building in the center of the town, and it will be restored,” he said. “However, this will take some time;
with the support of the town we will move forward quickly. I'm so thankful to the people and the community of New Hartford, who came together, for their support.”
New Hartford Fire Marshal Bob Biorio is investigating the cause of the fire with the help of state officials, he said this week.
“We’re still actively investigating this with the state,” he said. “We know it’s on a lot of people’s minds, and so we’re doing our due diligence with this. I don’t know exactly how much longer it’s going to take. There’s a lot of details that we’re looking into.”
Patel, meanwhile, is working with the fire marshal and insurance investigators, as well as his bank, he said.
“My intent is to build it back up,” he said. “People have an emotional feeling about New Hartford House; I have gotten so much feedback from people about how they loved the building.” He expects to meet with town officials soon.
“We will create a plan that’s in compliance with all the town’s requirements, because we want to work with the town to make this happen,” he said. “It will be a process. We do have to move quickly, but we’re going to have to start from square one.”
Patel said he was still saddened by the loss of the building. “It’s still a shock for me, in a way,” he said. “The town and the firefighters did so much; I’m so grateful to all of them. People, even ones I didn’t know, have been very nice to me. We will move forward, and the house will be there. I’m pretty much committed to do everything in my power to make it happen.”
After the fire, Christine Hayward, administrative assistant to First Selectman Dan Jerram, began collecting donations and put them in the town’s Neighbor To Neighbor fund, which is used to help residents in need of emergency money for rent or utilities.
“We have received many gift cards, and we have distributed them to displaced residents for food, temporary housing, clothing, gas and other needs,” Hayward said.
After providing that immediate assistance, she said the rest of the donations will be provided on a caseby-case basis, by request.
“Once the tenants find a permanent housing situation, they can come to the town and request money for a security deposit or first month’s rent,” Hayward said. “We do have one tenant who has found permanent hosing and we were able to give them a security deposit.
“People were very generous, and we appreciate the donations,” she said. “We’re distributing them in a fair and equitable manner.”
Businesses on the first floor were wiped out, and some have found new locations to reopen including the New Hartford Barber Shop.
Burlington firefighter and EMT Colin McFadden, 26, suffered a medical emergency while working with crews on the fire and died several days later. The six-year member of the Burlington Volunteer Fire Department had been listed in critical condition at John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington, according to Fire Chief Michael Boucher.
The fire department asked people to consider donating blood to the American Red Cross, which says hospitals are in critical need of blood and plasma supplies. Residents can visit www.redcross.org to make an appointment.