Portsmouth and building owner fight over future of State Street structure damaged in fire

PORTSMOUTH — The city’s chief building inspector has asked the owner of the historic Daily Times building to provide a plan to shore up the structure in order to protect public safety.

A major downtown fire in April 2017 damaged several buildings in the heart of the city’s Historic District, including 278 State Street.

The building is owned by developer Peter N. Floros and has been commonly known as the 1850 Daily Times building. The site has not been redeveloped since the fire.

Flores has sought to demolish the building to move forward with plans to redevelop the site, but the city’s Historic District Commission refused to give him permission to do so.

Chief Building Inspector Shanti Wolph recently sent a letter to Flores’ attorney asking the owner to provide a report on how to make the building safe “in order to protect the public safety.”

Potential 'threat to life safety'

Wolph stated in his letter that during an April site visit to the 278 State St. property, “it was evident that the roof had not remained in place as ordered by” the former chief building inspector in July 2017.

“It was clear that water was pouring in, and the open sky was visible, which contributed to further deterioration,” Wolph said in the June 20 letter to Flores’ attorney, John Kuzinevich. “Additionally, it was apparent that the exterior brick façade and corbels are failing.”

“If the façade collapses, there will be a significant threat to life safety,” Wolph added.

Wolph asked the owner to provide a “report from a licensed New Hampshire structural engineer detailing how the building will be made safe, or certifying that the building is safe,” by July 19.

Building at 278 State St. poses a danger

Wolph pointed out that Kuzinevich emailed him in January “asserting that the building at 278 State Street posed a danger.”

That email included a report from an engineer, Wolph said in his letter, who reported that the building had been “open to the weather for the past six plus years, and continues to be.”

The engineer’s report also stated that all wood elements of the historic building “have deteriorated to unacceptable levels,” and added that the roof was unsafe, Wolph said.

The chief building inspector did say that he understood Flores was “in the process of submitting a land use application” for the redevelopment of 278 State St. and other nearby buildings he owns.

The plans have not yet been formally submitted, Wolph said.

“The city is excited to work with your client and your client’s representatives in reviewing and processing this application,” Wolph said.

Owner wants to raze historic building

But Wolph stressed in the letter that he “was seeking a short-term solution designed to protect public safety, while your land-use application, which would present a more permanent solution, is pending.”

Reached Friday morning, Kuzinevich stated, “the citizens of Portsmouth should demand that the city immediately correct this problem, and knock the building down, which is the only safe option.”

“This has been going on far too long where there is more concern about the Historic District’s mission than there is about public safety,” he said.

A Superior Court judge upheld in May 2023 a decision by the city’s Historic District Commission, refusing to allow 278 State Street to be demolished, as Flores was seeking.

“It’s very fair to say that Mr. Flores has been unable to come up with a feasible and economically sensible redevelopment plan that involves keeping the building,” Kuzinevich said. “Anything that he proposes that keeps the existing walls there leads to a very awkward building design.”

Former Daily Times building 'scary' inside

The attorney visited the Daily Times building in April and said “it was scary going inside.”

“There is debris everywhere, there is charred wood everywhere, there is mold and kind of slippery substances on every surface,” he said. “Portions of the floor are rotted out, portions of the roof are rotted, it is in a stage of disrepair.”

The building property, which was partially fenced off during a visit there late Friday morning, is located in the heart of Portsmouth’s Historic District.

It has not been redeveloped since the building – which used to be home to the State Street Saloon – was badly damaged in the 2017 fire.

“It’s not surprising because it seems there is too much deference to the Historic District Commission,” Kuzinevich said when he was asked if he was surprised that the building hasn’t been razed, considering the damage.

“It’s especially sad, in this case, because Mr. Flores with new construction would build something totally compatible with the neighboring historic buildings.”

Any redevelopment of the historic site would likely be a mixture of commercial and residential uses, Kuzinevich said.

“If he is going with a new project, he still has to get Historic District Commission approval for what it looks like,” he noted.

Flores asks city's building commission to investigate

On behalf of Flores, Kuzinevich sent a letter to the city on Thursday asking for the city’s Building Commission “to investigate and hold a hearing” on 278 State Street.

“We ask that the commission act and take testimony from Mr. Wolph, the building owner and his experts, who agree the building is a dangerous building and should be demolished,” Kuzinevich said in the letter to the city.

Reached Friday, Wolph stressed that “my testimony isn’t that the building should be demolished, that would go against the HDC’s wishes.”

He did agree, as he outlined in his letter, that the building is dangerous, he said.

“Mr. Kuzinevich doesn’t like to hear this, but it’s been somewhat demolition by neglect,” because the building hasn’t been maintained since the fire, Wolph said.

“I would ask that he make the building safe, it does appear to be dangerous,” he added.

Wolph agreed that the city would like to see the property redeveloped in a fashion appropriate for the Historic District.

“We don’t want to see the building sitting there empty any more than the owner does,” he said.

He acknowledged that “this is not something that's going to be resolved overnight.”

“It’s going to be ongoing for a while until the owner and the city can find an equitable path forward,” Wolph said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Future of fire-damaged State Street building debated in Portsmouth NH