Brox tenants

The planned redevelopment of the old Scott and Williams factory building at Busy Corner will displace nine businesses employing some 30 people. News of the project drew a mixed reaction from the current tenants, with some expressing disappointment that the plan does not include commercial space while others took the prospect of moving in stride.

Brox Industries of Dracut, Mass., which owns the building, and the Laconia Housing Authority will be be at the Laconia Planning Board meeting on Monday night (6:30 p.m.) for a design review of their proposed $12-million project. Plans call for converting the second, third and fourth floors of the huge structure into 60 apartments. The ground floor will be shared by a medical clinic and a child care facility.

"I'm less impressed with the project than I was when it started," said Roland Maheu, who has operated his insurance agency in the building since 1988. "The original idea was for commercial and retail space on the first floor and apartments on the third and fourth floors," he continued. "There is a dearth of rental commercial space in Laconia."

Questioning the project itself, Maheu said "there are too many apartments built in competition with private landlords. I just don't think it's right." Saying that sixty units would add a significant number of children to the school system, he declared "the city will never get its money back." He suggested it might be cheaper to demolish the building altogether and rebuild on the site.

After beginning to look for new space for his agency, Maheu was not encouraged. "There's no commercial space available," he said, adding that he needed abut 500 square feet. "There's no place for most of these businesses to go and stay in Laconia," Maheu said.

Jonathan Halle, the architect of the redevelopment project, has said that RKG Associates of Durham was hired to undertake a market study of the site and concluded that it had "zero potential for commercial development" and was of "no value to a private developer."

Gary Hammond, owner of WEZS radio, which has broadcast from studios in the building for nearly a decade, was also disappointed. "We were surprised to find at the open house right before Christmas that there was no provision for commercial tenants other than that identified by the developer," he said, referring to the day care center and health clinic expected to occupy the ground floor of the mill. "This was all done pretty much to the exclusion of the existing tenants," said Hammond, adding that he "those of us who wished to remain in the building could have been fit into the project."

Moving the station is no simple matter, Hammond said. "We require line of sight transmission to two over the air transmitting plants and to satellites," he explained. "We must also go through a licensing process of roughly six months with the Federal Communications Commission to relocate our transmitting facilities, Hammond continued. "And we have do all this while remaining on the air continuously with no interruption, even it means operating from two separate sites. We have a unique set of challenges," he concluded.

Mary, an administrative assistance at Triumph Auto Glass, who worked in the building for Laconia Shoe and Star Specialty, said "I think they could have included the businesses in the project." Triumph Auto Glass, along with two other businesses, occupies a building adjoining the mill and facing Strafford Street, which is planned for demolition. "This space is perfect for us," Mary said, adding that for three years the firm had occupied a small office and large, high-ceilinged garage with abundant room for storing materials and tools as well as doing repair work. "Space like this is hard to find," she said.

Metropolitan Air Technology, Inc. , a small manufacturer, has rented space alongside Triumph Auto Glass for seven years. The owner of the business asked not to be identified and said only "no one looks forward to moving."

Bonnie Edwards, a photographer who shares space with Metropolitan Air Technology, was more enthusiastic about the project. "I'm sorry I have to move," she said, "but it's a really good thing and I think it will revitalize the area." Although Edwards was somewhat surprised that there was no retail or commercial space in the plan, she said the city needed the housing units.

"It doesn't mean a thing to me," said John Bancroft of J & J Printing, which for 29 years has operated on the second floor of the north wing of the building, which is also slated for demolition. "They should have torn this building down years ago."

Dana Powers of Engraving, Awards and Gifts, which has had its retail outlet and production facilities below J & J Printing for six years, said "it's come at a good time for us. We need more space." Powers said the business is growing rapidly through internet sales both at home and abroad.

"When it comes to our retail operation," Powers said, "this location hasn't helped us a lot. There is no foot traffic," he explained, "and even people driving by think the building is empty." He said that "we knew this was coming and we've been looking of space for a while." "Put that in the paper," interjected Dana's father, Bob. "We want to let people to know we need space."

"This was not unexpected," said Dana Ashton of Optical Design Manufacturing, which rented space in the building less than a year and a half ago. Ashton said that the fledging firm was designing a hand-held test probe for use with fiber-optics, but that much of its space was used for storage. "We didn't expect to be here for the long-term and this is not anything that comes as a big surprise."

Likewise, Dan Cunningham of Norsis, a machine shop that has operated at the rear of the building for two years, said he anticipated having to move within three years when he rented the space. "This is not a surprise," he said. "They have been very good to us and I wish them the best with their project."

Casting his eye over his shop crowded with heavy equipment, machinery, parts and metal, Cunningham conceded that moving would require some heavy lifting. "The machines are nothing, but that weighs 25,000 pounds," he said, pointing to a plastics extruder the firm is reconditioning for a customer in Chicago. "We got it in here with a 5,000 pound fork-lift, so we can move it," he said.

Cunningham said he would be looking for between 8,000 and 10,000 square feet with a loading dock. "Everything will work out," he remarked.