The developer of the condos to be built at 151-153 East Main Street has agreed to preserve the historic house on the property and incorporate the house into the property design. The Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) unanimously approved the application on Nov. 8.

In early 2021, the PZC received an application to build condos diagonally across from the Clinton Police Department at 151-153 East Main Street. The application from Resync Property Solutions sought to build more than two dozen apartments with septic systems on two adjacent parcels.

There was one complicating factor about the application: the presence of a historic house on the property that was set to be demolished. The house, known to some as “the 1800s house” or “the Dowd house,” inspired a vocal outcry from people who wanted to keep the house on the property to preserve the historic character of the town.

After the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) expressed a desire for the house to be kept, the developer agreed to tweak the application. Now, the developer has been granted permission to incorporate the house into the design.

At the PZC meeting on Nov. 8, Tony Bolduc, an agent for the applicant, told the PZC the plan calls for no changes to come to the outside of the house. The interior of the house will be converted into two, two-bedroom units.

“They will remodel the inside only,” Bolduc said.

Bolduc said that the developer could choose to sell the condos once remodeled.

Peggy Adler is a Clinton resident who spearheaded the movement to keep the house and she spoke at the meeting. Adler said she was pleased the developer had worked with the house.

“I want to thank for thank them for removing the demolition application,” Adler said, calling the condo proposal “wonderful.”

The History

In March 2021, the PZC had approved the originally proposed an application where the house would have been demolished. However, there was a big caveat attached to that approval.

The PZC voted at that time to stipulate that the house couldn’t be demolished until either the State Attorney General’s Office weighed in on the feasibility of keeping the house, or 90 days passed from the approval of the application with no further comment from the state.

Todd Levine, a member of SHPO who had been working with the developer to try to come to a compromise over the keeping the house, had originally said that the state was prepared to file on injunction to stop the demolition in early May. Instead, the developer decided that keeping the house and avoiding the lawsuit was prudent.

“The cost [of renovation] is the same as building a new building; we thought [preservation] would make an easy solution,” Levine said to the Harbor News in May 2021, adding that avoiding the cost of a lawsuit was of interest to both sides.

The interest in protecting the old house was generated in large part by a petition started by Adler that implored the PZC to require the house remain on the property because historic structures add character and atmosphere to the town. Adler’s petition drew more than 750 signers.