BERLIN – A portion of the sidewalk on William Street is closed as structural issues at the adjacent building are addressed.
On Tuesday, town staff cordoned off the sidewalk in front of the rear portion of the building that houses Burley Inn Tavern.
“The property owner is investigating possible structural issues with the building and we closed the sidewalk as a precaution,” Town Administrator Laura Allen said.
The building, which is owned by Jack Burbage, is expected to be undergoing renovations soon, according to Samantha Pielstick, Burbage’s property manager. She said when Burbage had an engineer visit the site this week in preparation for a remodel of the building, he’d advised them to “err on the side of caution” and cordon off the area. The roped off storefront sits between Town Center Antiques and the Burley Inn Tavern.
“It’s just an overabundance of caution,” Pielstick said.
Burbage hopes to remodel the space, which has been vacant for years, so that it can be used as an office. She added that they didn’t have a timeline for the project yet as the Berlin Historic District Commission still had to be consulted.
