195 Main St. won’t be demolished

DERBY — A Main Street building city officials feared was on the verge of toppling over has been given a reprieve from demolition.

“We have a professional report from the owner’s structural engineer which submits the building is sound but the facade needs to be shored up,” said Andrew Baklik, chief of staff to Mayor Richard Dziekan.

Baklik said the building’s owner, Derby Shores LLC, is expected to begin removing the outside stucco on the four-story structure at 195 Main St.

“We are told they will begin putting the scaffolding up as soon as noon Thursday,” Baklik said.

Because there is a bus stop adjacent to the building at the intersection of Main and Minera Streets, Baklik said he expected the owner would erect a cover over the sidewalk to protect people from falling debris.

At that point, the city’s firewatch crew will be recalled — they initially were on the scene March 15 — and the owner would be billed for 24/7 coverage.

Last week, city officials said they were concerned that the building was collapsing and would have to be demolished after portions of the facade and the chimney began falling. They contacted Derby Shores.

“I think we will want to do a post-inspection once all the work is done,” Baklik said.

Michael Hillis, a local defense attorney and principal in Derby Shores, told Hearst Connecticut Media that the company paid about $250,000 to renovate the interior.

Neither Hillis nor his structural engineer immediately returned requests for comment Thursday.

The building is across the street from the ongoing demolition by the state as it prepares to widen Main Street,/Route 34 into a fourlane road next year. The only building still standing on the south side of Main Street is the former Friendly Bar at the corner of Factory and Main.

Factory street is the site of a major planned development whose site plans will be presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission during its March 26 meeting.