Historic Norris House in downtown Concord torn down to make way for new development

Time has run out for the historic Norris House in downtown Concord, which will be demolished next week after attempts to save it. Geoff Forester

Workers from DeFranzo Demolition work on the rubble that once was the Norris building on South Main Street in Concord on Thursday. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

Workers from DeFranzo Demolition work on the rubble that once was the Norris building on South Main Street in Concord on Thursday, May 30, 2024. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Monitor staff

Published: 05-30-2024 6:16 PM

Modified: 06-02-2024 3:11 PM

As promised, the historic Norris House in downtown Concord has been torn down to make way for a commercial development after years of failed efforts to find somebody with the desire and finances to move it to a new location.

The green Norris House, between Concord Co-Op and the Bank of NH Stage, dated to 1860 and was associated with a Civil War bakery, the nation’s first woman-run independent movie theater and Concord’s first YMCA. Its history and appearance, and the fact that it is in good condition for its age, prodded multiple efforts to save it.

Duprey bought the house in 2018 as part of renovations that created the Bank of NH Stage, which shares an alleyway with the building. It was owned by Families in Transition before that. Shifting the house to another property was the only way to save it but the expense doomed the building.

Duprey plans to replace the Norris House with a two-story building that would hold a Friendly Toast restaurant, with a live-music-focused bar and restaurant in a converted carriage house at the back of the property.