Repair work starts on Laconia's historic Hathaway House

LACONIA — As promised several years ago, work began to renovate and repair the historic Hathaway House at 1106 Union Avenue yesterday under the watchful eye of City Councilor Armand Bolduc (Ward 6).

A crew from St. Miguel Contractors, a Massachusetts firm, pressure washed the outside of the building, shored up a buckled porch and began scraping the peeling paint. Ultimately the building will be repainted in colors to match those on it today.

Cafua Management Company, LLC of North Andover, Massachusetts, which purchased the property where it built a Dunkin' Donuts store on the southern part of the lot, is paying for the work. Originally the firm planned to demolish the Hathaway House and replace it with a strip mall, but in response to pleas from concerned residents and city officials agreed to build only the Dunkin' Donuts building and preserve the Victorian landmark. In 2008, when the Planning Board approved the project, Gregg Nolan, director of development and construction for the company, volunteered to paint the Hathaway House and fit it with fire alarm and suppression systems.

"He said they would fix it when they could," Bolduc said yesterday, "and here they are. It was only a matter of scheduling." He said that Nolan, for whom he had nothing but praise, assured him that once the company addressed the Dunkin' Donuts outlets in need of renovation, work would begin on the Hathaway House. "It took a while," Bolduc conceded, "but he kept his word and they finally got around to it."

Cafua is the largest Donkin' Donuts franchisee in the Northeast.

The Hathaway House was built in 1870 by Squire Clark, a local attorney who aspired to become governor and intended it as his official mansion. The ghost of his daughter Clarabelle is said to stalk its halls. The late Constance St. Clair, who owned and operated a clothing store in the building, described it as "one of the finest examples of Victorian architecture in the state," worthy of a place on the National Register of Historic Places. More recently the home housed a restaurant, Summerfields, which operated from the barn on the property until it was destroyed by fire and Stargaze Pool & Spas, which moved to new quarters.

The prospect that the Hathaway House would be demolished prompted the establishment of the city's Heritage Commission, together with an ordinance regulating the demolition of historic structures.

CAPTION -- Workers from St. Miguel Contractors set to work repairing the Hathaway House and preparing it to be repainted yesterday. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/ Michael Kitch).