New London church annex set for demolition this month
Sep. 7—NEW LONDON — The former First Congregational Church annex will be demolished in the coming weeks after a longer-than-expected approval process that paves the way for the clearing of piles of collapsed rubble that once made up the main church building.
Julie Savin, president and CEO of the Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities group, which purchased the 66 Union St. church property in July, said Wednesday she expects crews to begin razing the 5,904-square-foot annex building this month, a process she predicted would take about two weeks to complete.
The 49-year-old annex is the last standing portion of the historic church that was torn down in January soon after one of its steeples crumpled onto the building's roof. No official cause of the collapse has been released.
The disaster and subsequent church razing left a mountain of granite blocks, twisted metal and wood debris on the site. Andrew Woodstock, ECHO's director of real estate development, said removing the annex is key to a smooth clean-up process as it would allow the rubble to be trucked out via the rear of the property, instead of using the busier State and Union streets.
Once the annex is gone, crews will begin sorting the debris into large piles ― under the eye of a historic specialist ― so salvageable materials, such as the granite stones that formed much of the 173-year-old church, can be identified.
ECHO is in the process of completing designs for an apartment building that will be constructed on the property.
"We plan to incorporate as much of that granite into the new building as possible, including veneers, walls and pavers," Woodstock said. "Other materials, like any hazardous pieces, will be sealed in closed containers and disposed of. Most of the rest, like the wood, will be handled as regular construction and demolition waste, and taken to appropriate disposal sites."
Savin said she expected the annex to have been removed much sooner, but the demolition approval process proved more complicated than initially thought. She said while inspection and other paperwork is complete, the city is still waiting for proof Eversource has removed and capped a gas line running into the building.
"We were under the impression the gas issue had been resolved months ago, but it turns out it was left in place in case the annex would be re-used," Savin said. "Nobody has more of a sense of urgency than me when it comes to getting the site cleared. I originally hoped to have that work done before school started."
Despite the delays, Savin said her group is on track to meet a deadline laid out in a forbearance agreement with the city directing all rubble to be cleared by Nov. 1.
"We're also deep into our goal of bringing (an apartment) plan to zoning this fall," she said. "We're also working on funding applications set to be sent out to both the state Department of Housing and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority that are due in January."
