BERLIN – Officials approved plans for a major renovation of a downtown property after developers agreed to tweak the design to better fit the historic district.
The Berlin Historic District Commission (HDC) approved renovation plans for the Burbage properties, which include storefronts on Pitts Street and Main Street. The approval came after lengthy discussion and after the developers’ agreement to decrease the height of the Pitts Street portion of the project and add some Victorian detail.
“I’m extremely pleased that the Heart of Berlin LLC is going to do the revitalization,” said Carol Rose, HDC chair after the meeting. “I’m confident that the historic nature of our downtown is very important to them.”
Chris Davis and Frank Willing told the commission that they wanted to partner to renovate the extensive property and wanted to get HDC approval before moving forward.
“We haven’t bought the building,” Davis said. “It’s under contract. We’re going through the due diligence, this being the biggest part of it.”
Keith Fisher of Fisher Architecture told the commission the developers wanted to renovate the building in a way that would keep the town’s positive momentum going. Davis said he’d met with Jack Burbage, the current property owner, and discussed their plans, as Burbage wanted to be sure whatever was done with the buildings would be an asset to the town.
“We’re excited about it,” Davis said. “I really think this building is the heart of Berlin.”
Willing said he was also looking forward to the project.
“Quite honestly it’s on my bucket list to do a project like this in a town like this,” he said. “Not that I’m riding off into the sunset but this is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”
Though HDC members had extensive praise for the renovations planned to the Main Street portion of the project, they expressed concern about the look proposed for the corner of Pitts Street and William Street.
“There’s something about just this corner that’s got too much of a modern look to me,” HDC member Nornie Bunting said.
Commission member Laura Stearns agreed and said she didn’t like the look of the “tower” proposed.
“I don’t want to take away something that would be phenomenal for this town but it has to fit,” she said.
A few members of the public submitted written comments to the commission asking for adjustments to the proposed corner building and commission member Robert Poli said that the majority of citizens he’d discussed the rendering with hadn’t liked it. Commission member Mary Moore said she thought the proposed structure needed some adjustment so it didn’t look like Barnes and Noble. She added that she wanted to be sure the HDC liked the structure before the board signed off on it.
“Unfortunately we’ve had some bad experiences — people who live here stood in front of us and said this is how it’s going to be and it wasn’t at all,” she said, referencing the Purnell Building. “It’s a real eyesore.”
Davis said that while he wanted to appease the commission, he also had to make sure the building would be appealing to potential tenants.
“We can have an empty historic building or we can have something in between that’s viable,” he said.
Fisher explained that the corner was two feet higher than the existing building, and that was primarily because the current roofline was compromised and needed a cap to secure it. In response to concerns about the white paneling shown on the structure, Willing said that was because his team said much of the existing brick wasn’t salvageable. He said he did believe that he could eliminate the majority of the Azek however, so that just the upper portion of the building needed it.
Fisher said he could secure the roofline with just one foot of extra height rather than the two initially proposed. He said he could also add detail to the cornice to give the building more of a Victorian look.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the project as long as the Pitts Street corner included as much brick as possible, was reduced one foot in height and included more cornice detail. The HDC will review building signage in the future once tenants are ready to move in.
Rose said she appreciated the members of the public who had provided input on the project.
“I’m also grateful to the members of the board for studying the plans and making sure that everything was taken care of,” she said.
She also thanked the applicants, as well as the others who had cases before the board, for dealing with adjustments related to minimizing crowds and ensuring physical distancing.
