Allan Appel Photo
Wang with glass sample (and new design, below) for commissioners.
After four tries and two applications, owners of the Wooster Square Coffee Shop finally won permission from the Historic District Commission to put in new windows and doors to make their java junction attract more customers.
With more construction details and samples of materials, Jimmy and Sarah Wang, owners of the Wooster Square Coffee Shop for the past year and a half, breezed through an appearance Wednesday night before the members of the Historic District Commission (HDC) at City Hall’s second-floor meeting room..
Commissioners awarded them the certificate of appropriateness they have been seeking in order to begin exterior remodeling of what has long been a neighborhood eyesore at the corner of Chapel and Chestnut streets.
It was a contrast to their previous appearances in recent months, when they pleaded for permission to modernize the shop and kept getting knocked down.
The Wangs bought the building at 516 Chapel St., which housed the former Fuel Coffee Shop, in 2015 for $525,000. They have applied for a city facade improvement grant. And since December they had been seeking a certificate of appropriateness from the HDC for exterior renovations for the facade, door, roofing, signage, fencing, and especially for the windows.
At Jimmy Wang’s first appearance in December before the HDC, commissioners shot down his request and urged him to return with more detail n how large the windows would be, how they would be supported in the walls, and if he would consider a “transom” look more in keeping with the historic neighborhood than the proposed large, modern-looking single panes.
The newest commissioner, Fair Havener Karen Jenkins, with Commissioner Susan Godshall
Between then and Wednesday night, Wang, who resisted earlier commissioners’ suggestions to make major construction changes to the building, and conceded that the recommended transom look of the windows was preferable. He also came back with detailed drawings of how the windows would be inserted into the walls.
“I think this looks better and stronger,” he said as he greeted the commissioners like, if not old friends, then by now familiar acquaintances. “I also brought the materials for the window. I hope these will satisfy you.”
They did.
After a brief discussion between Wang and the commissioners, the New Haven Preservation Trust’s Elizabeth Holt took the seat before the commissioners to lend her group’s enthusiasm to the project.
“I met with Sarah at the coffee shop. And she served me coffee! I like what they did with the transom design. I’m absolutely in support,” Holt said.
The establishment as it is today, soon to change.
Before the commissioners moved to vote, the Commission Chair Trina Learned double-checked items that had been carried over from the previous application, which for time reasons had elapsed.
Removing the existing shingles and replacing them with look-alikes? Check.
Repairing of the stucco facade? There, as with other gap-fill ins, the work was considered repair, not replacement, so required no approval from the HDC. So… Check.
The new detail provided about the windows and the doors — same material? Check.
“Do the windows and doors align?” she asked Jimmy Wang.
“Yes.”
“Fabulous.”
“The windows and door are on the same level,” Wang said as he pointed to the new rendering he had brought in.
“This is wonderfully clear and helpful,” Learned replied.
Commissioner George Knight, an architect, moved to approve the project and issue a certificate of appropriateness to the Wangs. The motion passed unanimously.
“Wooster Square is developing, and this will help,” Wang said as he and his wife gathered their materials to leave the meeting room.
Before they left, Commissioner Susan Godshall commended the relationship and coordination of the City Plan staff and the New Haven Preservation Trust in moving the Wangs’ project along.
Sarah Wang credited Holt’s visit, over that cup of coffee, with helping her navigate both the NHPT’s and the city’s web\ site to clarify what was required and to find a contractor/designer who could expeditiously provide the additional drawings commissioners required.
“We’re very happy,” Sarah Wang said. “Finally.”
The Divided Lights are a nice addition to the design (especially if they 'tilt' open).
The process, however, was too long to 'get there', especially for what is basically a 'minor tweak' of the original proposed design.