265 Townsend today.
NHPT press release / New Haven Museum image
The historic, now-demolished, "Pardee House."
Rotting wood — and a city slip-up — led to the demolition of a 210-year-old house in Morris Cove, causing local preservationists to call on City Hall to work harder to protect historic structures.
The site of that recent building teardown is 265 Townsend Ave.
According to the city’s online building permit database, on May 27, the Building Department signed off on the demolition of a vacant single family home that sat atop the quarter-acre lot across the street from the Pardee Seawall.
“No Historical Significance,” that city-issued permit read. “Immediate Demolition Authorized.”
The demolition permit application, submitted on May 24 by the contractor Cosby’s North East Foundation on behalf of property owner Donna Matey, stated the same.
So, in mid-July, with the city’s blessing, the demolition contractor tore down the building to make way for the construction of a planned new single-family home.
In an Aug. 15 press release, the New Haven Preservation Trust (NHPT) argue that building in fact had historical significance. The Trust also argued that per the city’s own laws, there should have been a three-month delay between when the demolition permit application was submitted and when the city OK’d the tear down.
NHPT press release
According to NHPT Director of Historic Preservation Sarah Tisdale, the frame house at 265 Townsend, built between 1800 and 1810, “was believed to be the oldest building in the Morris Cove district.”
The NHPT’s webpage about the Morris Cove National Register Historic District describes the now-demolished building as follows: “Morris Cove resident Samuel C. Thompson, Jr. offered guest rooms to summer visitors in the 1870s at the Pioneer Guesthouse, an enterprise that may have been established by Thompson’s seafaring father, Captain Samuel C. Thompson, Senior. Moved to its current location at 265 Townsend Avenue, the one-and-one half-story frame house is known today as the Captain Chandler Pardee House.”
The relevant section of the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Morris Cove Historic District says that the “simple one-and-one-half-story, three-bay frame cottage likely was moved to its current location by 1870; it was operated as the Pioneer Guesthouse during part of its history at this location. The wood-shingle-clad house has a rear wing, a concrete foundation, a side-gable roof, and an open front porch with a shed roof and columns. The porch; the one-over-one, double-hung, vinyl-sash windows; and three dormers are later alterations.”
In the NHPT’s Aug. 15 press release, Tisdale wrote that this property lies within the Morris Cove National Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2018.
“Due to its National Register status, demolition of this house should have had special handling, with prior notice to agencies including the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Preservation Connecticut, and the New Haven Preservation Trust,” Tisdale wrote. “By law, the demolition of National Register properties requires the Building Department to delay issuance of a demolition permit for 90 days after the permit is applied for, so that alternatives to demolition can be reviewed.
“Evidence shows that the City violated its own ordinance and failed to impose the 90-day delay. No interested parties were aware of the pending demolition, and by the time the Preservation Trust was notified of the demolition by local residents, it was too late to save the historic house.”
Thomas Breen file photo
Development chief Piscitelli: "Error" identified.
Asked for comment from the city’s perspective, city Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli wrote in an emailed statement: “Working with the New Haven Preservation Trust, the city has been able to identify the error in our historic property inventory that resulted in this oversight. Our staff is now working to correct our database, including the more recent additions to the inventory, and update our overall practices concerning the delay of demolition ordinance. The city’s partnership with the New Haven Preservation Trust to protect and enhance the historic places and spaces in our community is extremely important and we appreciate their assistance as we improve our protocols.”
In the NHPT’s original email press release, Tisdaile detailed the cause for that oversight from the preservationists’ perspective.
She wrote that the city demolition permit indicated that there was “no historical significance” for 265 Townsend Ave. because, at the time of the permit application and issuance in late May, the city did not recognize the Morris Cove National Historic District, “despite written notification of the official listing to the Mayor’s office on April 23, 2018.”
“The Pardee House demolition led to the discovery that no National Register properties or National Historic Districts have been entered into the City’s database since 2017,” Tisdale continued. “City departments are missing information for the Morris Cove District, Orange Street District expansion, Winchester Repeating Arms District expansion, and eight individual property listings. Designated historic properties in those areas would not be flagged in future demolition requests.”
She wrote that city maps were also missing “every National Register site and State Register site which lies outside a historic district, regardless of when those sites were designated.” And she noted that the city did not make listings on the National Register of Historic Places “visible in any way, either to property owners or to its own departments.”
Thomas Breen photos
“City Plan staff acknowledge that their database of historic designations is not up-to-date, due to staff transitions and lack of communication between departments,” Tisdale wrote. “Assurances were given that the City recognizes the importance of the issue and intends to work internally to discuss updating maps and property data to reflect all of New Haven’s Historic Districts and individual historic property listings. The City also plans to address internal systems to ensure that relevant departments have consistent information about designated historic resources.
“While the Preservation Trust welcomes the City’s intention to update its maps and data, there is no timeframe for repairing these issues. In the meantime, the City has taken down the historic districts map that was on its website to avoid presenting inaccurate information to the public.”
"It Had To Come Down"
Demolition and construction contractor Richard Allen with wooden carrier beams: "It was rotten."
On a visit to 265 Townsend Ave., the Independent spoke with demolition contractor Richard Allen. He took a quick break from his work grading the site in preparation for the pouring of a concrete floor to explain to the Independent why the former vacant house had to come down.
“It was rotten,” he said, pressing the toe of his boot against three wooden carrier beams piled towards the back of the property. “It had termites. … The house would have caved in eventually.” Due to old age, he said, and “past neglect.”
“The house was built good,” he said. But “it’s seen better days. It had to come down.” He said when he knocked the building down, “it was nothing but dust that came down.”
Demolition permit application / field inspection report
A so-called “Field Inspection Report” that was included in the May 24 demolition permit application offers further insight into the condition of the property at the time it was torn down.
That inspection took place on May 13.
“The entire building is exposed to weather effect (no waterproofing) for long time, the hardware floor and plywood are soft due to weather effect,” the report reads.
The report stated that, in the basement, the existing foundation walls were “leaning outward,” there was a “horizontal crack at the top course of the foundation wall,” there were “lots of temporary shoring posts under the deflected wood framing,” and “the existing wood framing is notched, cracked and deflected.”
It also found that the “entire 1st and 2nd floors are sloped, sagged, and deflected,” that the first-floor “ceiling and wood beams are sagged and deflected,” and that the exterior wall was damaged due to water infiltration.
The report’s conclusion: “There are significant deficiencies observed to the structural framing and the foundation walls. It appears that the old wood framing for the entire building is unsafe and has significantly deteriorated and deflected due to its age over the decades, and the water damage. It is our opinion that the existing building is structurally unsound and may cause a failure hazard at any time.
“We recommend demolishing the existing building and construction a new framing with new foundation walls to comply with the current building codes and FEMA requirements.”
I spoke with the realtor. It was bad but could have been saved.
I talked with a NYC potential buyer, who told me his plans to save it if his bid was accepted. Great guy! And yes, he saw the damage.