Norwich to seek renovation plans for Reid & Hughes

Old department store building could still be saved as preservation activists applaud vote

Norwich — Supporters of saving the Reid & Hughes building again urged the City Council Monday to reverse its decision from last October to tear down the Reid & Hughes and work instead to save the building.

This time, they didn’t walk away disappointed.

The City Council voted unanimously to seek a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the 1880 former department store at 193-201 Main St., with a strict time schedule for receiving responses and for any successful bidder to stabilize the building against further decay.

The vote was met with a round of applause from more than a dozen historic preservation advocates in the audience.

According to the resolution approved Monday, proposals will be due within 45 days and any responding developers must submit a non-refundable $1,000 fee to the city to cover technical reviews of the proposals. The developers also must be prepared to obtain permits no later than June 20 and to start work by July 1 to stabilize the decaying roof and upper structure.

That work would have to be done by Nov. 1.

City officials have held three

closed-door meetings with the Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development since the state Historic Preservation Council voted Dec. 7, 2016, to deny the city’s request to tear down the building. The state council found that the city does have a viable alternative to demolition and would ask the state Attorney General’s office to seek a court injunction against the demolition.

The Women’s Institute proposes a $6 million renovation for 20 apartments and retail space and an immediate $300,000 stabilization plan to allow time to secure financing.

New London developer Bill Morse, who has pledged a $200,000 investment to do the stabilization, and the group hopes to obtain a $100,000 matching grant from the city’s downtown revitalization program and possibly loans from historic preservation groups to fill the gap.

Morse received a round of applause after Council President Pro Tempore Peter Nystrom thanked him for being willing to invest in downtown Norwich.

During public comment period, nearly a dozen speakers urged the council to support the resolution to seek development proposals, and Alderman William Nash urged project supporters to keep coming back to make sure the council stays on track. Nash and Nystrom had been the only council members who had supported saving the Reid & Hughes in fall, when the council voted 5-2 to borrow $800,000 to tear it down.