Allen-Rogers Transformed

The conversion of the former Allen-Rogers wood-turning factory into a residential and commercial complex has been veiled from view by the blank bricks and cloudy glass lining Water Street. But, behind the walls and windows change has proceeded apace and will soon be there for all to see.

Matt Cashman, construction manager for Laconia Millworks, LLC, an affiliate of Chinburg Builders of Durham, stressed that continuity was the hallmark of the project, which will preserve the appearance and ambiance of the industrial past in the living and working space of the future. Continuity reaches to Cashman himself, who was the last plant manager at Allen-Rogers before becoming director of facilities at the Inns at Mill Falls in Meredith.

"We've addressed all the environmental issues on the site," Cashman said, explaining that hazardous materials have been removed and monitoring wells have been installed. Work is scheduled to begin soon on clearing and preparing the site. "Pretty soon we'll be laying out roadways and walkways and even beginning to planting and landscaping," he remarked.

Meanwhile, each of the three large buildings on the site — two along Water Street and an 18,000 square foot commercial building on Beacon Street West — have been prepared for conversion. The brickwork, beams and trusses have all been sandblasted and will remain exposed when the space is converted.

In building Number 6 (Laconia Millworks borrowed the designation from Allen-Rogers), at the corner of Water Street and Beacon Street West, work is set to begin constructing 46 rental units — one and two bedroom as well as studio apartments, ranging from 950 to 1,200 square feet — and two professional offices on three floors. "We'll start framing the units this week," Cashman said. In addition, a new three-story section, filling in a gap between the existing buildings, will be constructed to house another 12 rental units adjacent to a courtyard.

Building Number 8, further down Water Street, will be converted into 16 two bedroom condominium units, each with a view of the Winnipesaukee River. The ground floor units will have patios, while the upstairs unit will include a small room leading to a rooftop deck overlooking the river.

Cashman said several proposals have been suggested for the commercial building, including several on the theme of a marketplace akin to Fanueil Hall. Like each of the other buildings, this vast, cavernous space, which once hosted railway cars, is crowned by beams and trusses laced beneath a glazed cupola. Next door, perched over the Perley Canal and on the Winnipesaukee River, a fourth building is earmarked to house a restaurant.

Cashman said that with most of the preparatory work complete, the project will proceed on what he conceded was "a pretty aggressive schedule" that calls for the rental units in building number 6 to be complete by the spring of 2005. He said work would then begin on the condominium units and perhaps on the commercial building, if an occupant was found. The final stage of the project will be the construction of a dozen townhouse condominiums along the river front.

As Cashman walked through the building, he recalled what was done where. Pointing to the smokestack towering over Beacon Street West, he explained that Allen-Rogers heated the plant and dried its lumber with a double-boiler fueled with the waste from its operations. "Yes, the smokestack will stay," he said. "It's a landmark."