Demolition to wait

0
77
Demolition of the building at 1 South Main St. in Naugatuck, which was slated for Friday or Saturday, will be postponed as the contractor waits for a demolition permit. –RA ARCHIVE
Demolition of the building at 1 South Main St. in Naugatuck, which was slated for Friday or Saturday, will be postponed as the contractor waits for a demolition permit. –RA ARCHIVE

NAUGATUCK — The demolition of a blighted building in downtown Naugatuck will have to wait a little longer.

The building at 1 South Main St. is the first building many people see when they drive off of Route 8 into the borough.

The building was purchased by One South Main Street, LLC, in 2011. The current owners of the property are Rich Hertel, who own Rich’s Car Works on the adjacent lot and Charles Wasoka, who owns American Vintage Furniture, located across the street from the property.

Naugatuck has grappled with what to do with it for several years. Finally, officials decided to tear it down and agreed to a deal with Hertel and Wasoka to do so.

As part of the deal, the borough will pay the Weise Construction of Norwich $42,900 to demolish the building. Once the building is demolished, the borough will receive a portion of the property the building sits on to use as a staging area for upcoming work on the Whittemore Bridge and ultimately to continue the Naugatuck River greenway.

The demolition was slated to happen on Friday or Saturday, but it will be postponed.

Department of Public Works Director Jim Stewart said the contractor is waiting on a demolition permit from the borough’s Building Department. A new demolition date had not been set as of Wednesday.