Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission approves funds to renovate dilapidated Bostwick Street building

LAKEVILLE — The Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission approved a funding request at its Dec. 18 meeting to renovate a recently purchased 19th-century building on Bostwick Street, despite concerns from several members that the structure may be too dilapidated to repair cost-effectively.

The application from the Salisbury Housing Committee, the town organization responsible for affordable rental properties, requested $200,000 to assist in the repair of the 3-unit property it recently purchased at 37 Bostwick St. The funds, if approved by the Board of Selectmen, will match $200,000 already secured by the SHC to a working funding pool of $400,000 for the project.

According to Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity Director Jocelyn Ayer, who assisted SHC President Peter Halle in presenting the plans, the historic structure has seen better days: “It was built in 1850, and it looks like it.”

The building contains three units in varying states of disrepair, one of which is currently occupied. Another unit, long vacant and most recently inhabited by raccoons, Ayer said, will require extensive renovation to be brought back to a habitable condition.

Still, those familiar with the building said the work will be worth the expense and that the structure is salvageable. “It’s not rotten to the core,” said Halle, while SAHC commissioner Pat Hackett, who is an engineer with extensive knowledge of building projects in town, said that he thinks the structure is sound.

Commissioners Mary Oppenheimer and Vivian Garfein both questioned whether it’s worth renovating. Both were concerned about unforeseen costs that might arise on top of the immediately apparent issues, which already pose a significant expense.

Ayer said $400,000 would not cover the entire price tag of the renovation, but it would enable the essential work to get done while the Committee seeks the additional funding to complete the renovations. Halle said that if that sum were secured, “there is a path” to financing the entire project, which would put residents in the units far more quickly than building a new development from scratch.

Commissioner Abeth Slotnick, who’s an architect, noted the townspeople had expressed interest in upgrading existing structures to be used as affordable rental options, and that this situation was a “good example of where that can work.”

Lee Sullivan, another commissioner, agreed that neighbors will appreciate the upkeep of an old house: “Keeping an historic 1850 building that is part of the existing neighborhood is really important to people.”

The SAHC ultimately voted to move forward with a request for funding. Slotnick said a contractor is ready to begin the top priority fixes as soon as the funding is guaranteed, which still has to be formally passed by the selectmen.