Residents urge Morristown officials: Don’t demolish Elm Street fire buildings

Blachley Place--mailing address Elm Street--after the January 2015 fire. Photo by Kenneth Hoffman
Blachley Place--mailing address Elm Street--after the January 2015 fire. Photo by Kenneth Hoffman
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Del's Novelty, one of two structures severely damaged by fire in January 2015.Photo by Berit Ollestad
Del’s Novelty, one of two structures severely damaged by fire in January 2015.Photo by Berit Ollestad

By Berit Ollestad

The Morristown council this week approved a $75,000 emergency appropriation to demolish two Elm Street buildings deemed “in imminent danger of collapsing” after a January fire.

But one of the owners and the town historic preservation commission pleaded: Not so fast.

Lila Bernstein, owner of the B.W. Clifford candy store, said she still awaits word from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office about what caused the blaze on Jan. 30-31, 2015, one of the coldest nights of the winter.

Business owner Lila Bernstein asks town officials to delay demolition of the former B.W. Clifford candy store. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Business owner Lila Bernstein asks town officials to delay demolition of the former B.W. Clifford candy store. Photo by Berit Ollestad

“We are eager to move forward with the demolition of the property, as I’m sure you can imagine. But we are reluctant to do so until a copy of the findings have been provided to our insurance carriers and to us,” said Bernstein, citing a June 1 deadline to either demolish the building or provide an engineering report that the buildings are structurally sound.

“We are just as anxious as you are to have that street open and to put this to bed,” Bernstein continued.

“The evident frustration that our family is experiencing is beyond belief. As the vernacular goes, I am not a spring chicken, but I’ve never been exposed to something quite so devastating, where we can’t go A and we can’t go B because we have to wait for C to do something.”

Bernstein’s building and Del’s Novelty have been declared structurally unsound by the town’s construction code official.  Town officials are concerned that the structures could collapse at any time.

But Marion Harris of the Morristown Historic Preservation Commission urged saving the buildings’ facades, and asked why her commission has not been consulted.

“This is the type of thing we are for. Please do not make any decision regarding demolition until these questions are answered for us” said Harris, who described the block of storefronts on what is locally known as Blachley Place as a gateway to Morristown, “the only intact block front of 19th century commercial architecture in town and … a very important site.”

“Take advantage of this chance to modernize what doesn’t show, while you are still able protect the historical significance of the front of the building,” Harris said.

Representing residents of the Franklin Corners neighborhood, Marge Brady  asked the council to deliberate long and hard before allowing the wrecking ball to do its work.

“We’ve taken down a number of historic buildings recently, and when you take down one here and one there it doesn’t seem to make that much difference. But if you take down these buildings in the middle of the strip, everyone will notice it — anyone taking the train in and out of Morristown,” said Brady, a former councilwoman.

‘PUBLIC SAFETY MUST COME FIRST’

The fate of the buildings has not yet been sealed, but first steps must be taken, Mayor Tim Dougherty and Administator Michael Rogers told the residents.

Rogers said the buildings are in “imminent danger of collapsing” and could harm anyone who crosses safety barriers.

“I am all for preservation, but public safety comes first” said the Mayor, cautioning residents to stay clear of these structures.

Councilwoman Alison Deeb voted against the appropriation, after suggesting better fencing around the site could buy more time for the council to decide a course of action. She cited the barriers that were installed after 9/11 around Ground Zero in New York as an example.

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: Morristown firefighters battle blaze on 14-degree night. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: Morristown firefighters battled blaze on a 14-degree night. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

According to Rogers, if the buildings’ owners want to salvage all or part of the burned-out structures, they can speak with structural engineers and bring their findings to the town for consideration.

The Administrator said causes of some fires never are resolved.

“I’m concerned about the fact that we may wait a considerable amount of time (if ever) to get this report,” Rogers said, asserting: “There is no vested interested other than public safety.”

Most of the relief money — more than $40,000–contributed to aid approximately 25 tenants displaced by the blaze has not been tapped, he added.

“There is no expiration date to collect restitution as long as the individuals can provide proper documentation that they are in need of monies to re-locate or re-establish a household,” Rogers told MorristownGreen.com. “The town continues to encourage victims to come forward and to share information so that we might be able to assist in whatever way possible.”

MORE ABOUT THE ELM STREET FIRE

4 COMMENTS

  1. Good lord, they are burned out, old buildings now, not historic sites
    – knock them down and move on, Morristown!

  2. If the town and the historical society are so adamant to keep the frontage of the properties in tact so to maintain their historical significance, maybe the unclaimed contributions the town has received should go toward keeping them up…. what will they do with the money?

  3. “Most of the relief money — more than $40,000–contributed to aid approximately 25 tenants displaced by the blaze has not been tapped, he added”

    Why hasn’t this money been distributed? And where does it go if it is never “tapped”?

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