The Odd Fellows building is running out of time.
Situated behind the town hall in Warner, the towering red structure has sat empty for almost two decades, despite multiple attempts to clean it up and find a new use for it. To rehab it properly would cost over a million dollars, according to Rebecca Courser, and issues such as a lack of available parking has kept several contractors from finalizing plans.
It’s time, Courser thinks, to give up the ghost. Not that she doesn’t want to see the building saved – she remembers attending first-grade there, and is an ex-Odd Fellow herself – but she’s worried it’s a fire hazard, and too costly for anyone to take on. And if Courser’s citizen petition passes in March, the select board will be directed to start planning to demolish the building by 2018.
But it may not be too late for the 125-year-old structure: a public hearing will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and again on March 1 about the sale of the building to a contractor Warner town administrator Jim Bingham said is interested in restoring Odd Fellows to its former glory. Should the sale go through, Bingham imagined the petition would be void, because the building would no longer be town property.
While Bingham declined to say the name of the buyer and the potential price tag, he’s relatively confident the select board will be able to work out a deal before town meeting and finally put the Odd Fellows building back to use.
Built in 1892, the Odd Fellows building used to house meetings of the local Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal group interested in community altruism, as well as the local Masonic Lodge chapter. Both parties had left the building by 1964, after it had been condemned by the fire inspector, and Odd Fellows was then purchased by an electrical company called Mesur-Matic’s, according to Courser.
The building went through a series of owners, eventually landing on Bruce Martin, who lived and rented out rooms until he died in 1998. Warner purchased the building in 2000 for $50,000, and since then various versions of the Odd Fellows Committee have worked to clear the building of debris and identify structural problems. Various buyers, too, have looked at the building as potential for anything from office space to apartments, but have ultimately shied away from a final sale.
What’s wrong with the building, you might ask? There’s asbestos in some nooks and crannies, and the building is a Department of Environmental Services Brownfields site due to lead contamination throughout the structure and in the soil. Not to mention the building would need new egress stairs, an elevator and an electrical overhaul to modernize it; Courser said estimates of $1.2 to $2 million were given to bring the building up to speed.
Then there’s the issue of parking: the building only has around four spaces next to it, a major turn off for potential developers, Bingham said. This is one problem that may already be solved, as the town negotiated the transfer of 12,000-square-feet of land from the Simonds Elementary School to the town in 2014, creating parking space for the building and the town hall.
It’s a lot of work, but Bingham said the potential buyer is qualified to handle the building’s various needs.
“It’s the board’s desire to see the building be rehabilitated so that it can produce tax revenue as well as maintaining its historical qualities,” he said. “We wouldn’t be interested in pursuing this otherwise.”
Courser would like to see the building be saved, too, but she fears the building’s age makes it a danger to other buildings, should it catch on fire. She specifically referenced January fire in Webster, where a three-alarm blaze resulted in the death of Steven Youngs and the complete destruction of the home, an 18th-century farmhouse located at 401 Little Hill Road. She fears if the Odd Fellows building did the same, it could affect the very-nearby town hall and downtown businesses.
But it’s also fair to say Courser is wary of seeing another buyer fall through – she was on the Odd Fellows building committee for years until 2014, and spent time and energy trying to save it.
“It’s sad, and I think people have good intentions,” she said. “But I’m not sure if anyone’s going to be able to put the whole package together. I’m worried it will just sit there.”
(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)