Residents urge Plannign Board to save hathaway House

For the second time in a decade, residents rallied to spare the Hathaway House, the stately Victorian home at 1106 Union Avenue, when Cafua Management Company, LLC of North Andover, Massachusetts, the largest Dunkin Donuts franchisee in the Northeast, presented its plan to replace the landmark with a Dunkin Donuts and strip mall to the Planning Board for a conceptual review last night.

Representing Cafua, Mark Gross told the board that the company owns the outlet at 1091 Union Avenue, a leased parcel almost directly across the street from the Hathaway House. With the lease nearing its end, Cafua Management proposes to move the business across the street as part of a thorough redevelopment of the site.

Dunkin Donuts would operate from a 2,476-square foot building, with a drive-through window, at the south end of the lot adjacent to Trustworthy Hardware. The plan also includes a two-story building of 12,962 square feet, designed for retail space on the ground floor and office space above. Parking for 72 vehicles would be provided on the forecourt of the site.

But, residents wanted only to preserve the old and no part of the new. 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. Constance St. Clair, who once owned the building where she operated a clothing store, 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 is now housed at 387 Union Avenue.

Wanda Tibbetts, president of the Lakeport Association who lived two doors from the Hathaway House for 46 years, said that some years ago plans to demolish the building were shelved in the face of public protest that included bumper stickers, in pink to match the building, proclaiming "Save the Hathaway House."

Gregg Nolan of Cafua has undertaken to give the house to anyone willing to move it to another site. However, the cost of moving the building has been estimated at about $500,000 on top of the cost of purchasing property to place it on.

"I'm getting an awful lot of phone calls from people who want to see the building stay where it is," began City Councilor Armand Bolduc (Ward 6). Glancing at Cafua's plan for the property, Bolduc said "that doesn't look like Laconia. It looks like a circus. It just doesn't look like it belongs there." Recalling that the ghost of Squire Clark's daughter Clarabelle is said to stalk the hall of the Hathaway House, he said that is the building was razed "I don't know whose house she will haunt, but I wouldn't want to live in it."

Mary Jane Hooey said that "it's an emotional issue" and urged Cafua to "preserve and reuse this house," adding they would earn "a lot of good feeling in the community."

Gross said that Cafua was willing to consider preserving the building, but said that because of its proximity to Union Avenue, interior floor plan and uncertain structural properties he questioned whether it could be put to a profitable use.

City Councilor Bob Hamel (Ward 5) pointed out that after struggling to build an outlet in New London, Dunkin Donuts ultimately constructed a house in keeping with the character and ambience of the town. "Try to save the Hathaway House," he said.

"You can't replace these houses," warned Jean Malone, who pointed to Cafua's plan and remarked "I could go anywhere in America and see that."

Eva Hurst of Alton, who grew up in Meredith and works in Laconia, reminded the board of the mistakes made in the 1960s when so many buildings were torn down in the city. "Why are we going to do it again," she asked.

Meanwhile, the City Council and Planning Board are considering an ordinance that would require a request to demolish any building of historical or architectural interest more than 75 years old, visible from an adjacent public right-of-way or public property and with a gross floor area of more than 500-square-feet to undergo review by a "demolition review committee" of three people, appointed by the City Council. ?

If the committee were to find a building to be "potentially historically or architecturally significant," it must hold a public hearing within 12 days. If the committee determines that the building has significance and its loss will be "potentially detrimental to the community," it must meet with the owner or his representative within 10 days to discuss alternatives to demolition, otherwise the demolition can proceed.

Should the owner and the committee fail to agree on an alternative to demolition, the building can be demolished. With the agreement of the owner, the committee shall make a photographic record of the building as well as encourage the owner to salvage its significant architectural features.

Until the ordinance is adopted or rejected, Cafua cannot proceed to demolish the Hathaway House.