After decades of standing vacant, Reid & Hughes building renovations in full swing

NC

Norwich ― Standing inside on the second floor of the Reid & Hughes building Thursday morning, a worker in a lift machine outside slowly rose into view to continue restoring the historic building’s late 19th-century façade.

Several members of the Norwich Community Development Corp. got a close-up look at the renovations now in full swing at the long-vacant department store building at 193-201 Main St.

Heritage Housing, Inc., which owns the Wauregan Apartments across Main Street, is renovating the split-level building into 17 apartments and 2,000 square feet of retail space.

The $5 million project has received funding assistance from the state and city. It received a $550,000 grant from he state Community Investment Fund in 2022, and the city contributed a $300,000 economic development grant through the city’s federal American Rescue Plan Act grant.

“It’s actually not more expensive than building new,” David McCarthy, president of Heritage Housing told the group.

McCarthy said the project is expected to be complete next April.

Heritage Housing agreed to take on the project after the city’s initial developer, the Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development, struggled financially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Peter Nystrom thanked McCarthy for pursuing the project and sticking with it through funding difficulties. Nystrom said when Heritage purchased the Wauregan in late 2020, McCarthy asked about the status of the Reid & Hughes across the street, concerned that the blighted building was an eyesore.

“Historic restorations like this are difficult,” McCarthy said.

A pile of bricks on the second floor came from a section of a brick wall that once divided the two buildings that comprise Reid & Hughes. Niall Farrell, director of construction for Heritage, said a portion of the wall that had been supporting an overhead beam was crumbling and ready to collapse. Workers replaced the crumbled brick portion with concrete blocks.

Stacks of original windows now are leaning against one wall. McCarthy said the windows are in good shape and will be re-installed. The apartments, front and rear will retain the giant original windows, but modern safety codes prohibit the windows from being opened, McCarthy said. New insulated storm windows will be fitted to the interior panels.

One fourth-floor unit will feature a large, angled skylight, along with the tall windows overlooking the mouth of the Shetucket River and Norwich Harbor. Nystrom, who shopped in the Reid & Hughes as a child, recalled the area he was standing in once housed curtains and blinds. Children’s clothing, he recalled was on the bottom floor.

The three-story building will not have an elevator. Stairways will be constructed on each side leading to the 17 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

Out front, the late 20th-century dark polished stone that dominates the façade, will be removed in the coming weeks to expose the brick and storefront windows of the original façade. McCarthy said he had hoped to save the stone pieces to use elsewhere, such as the entrance threshold. But the first piece removed broke apart when pried loose.

“They’re attached pretty strongly,” McCarthy said.

c.bessette@theday.com