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IN RESTORING THE HISTORIC WILDER BLOCK BUILDING IN BRATTLEBORO, TRUMBULL-NELSON HELPS THE TOWN STAY CONNECTED TO ITS PAST. By bruce wood photos by rich frutchey and steve usle

The horrific fire that engulfed the Wilder Block building on the southern tip of the Brattleboro shopping district in 2004 destroyed the top two floors of the historic brick building and severely damaged the other two. It was a sad loss for the town.

“It’s a signature building for Brattleboro,” said architect Staley McDermet of Williams & Frehsee, Inc. “Architecturally and locationwise, you come across the bridge from New Hampshire and bang, it’s right there. It’s really a portal to the city. You come into downtown on Canal Street and it’s the first thing you see.”

What visitors and horrified townspeople saw in the aftermath of the fire wasn’t testament to the quality craftsmanship of the nineteenth-century builders, but a charred and unstable brick building whose flat roof had collapsed and whose future as an anchor of the southern Vermont town was in serious doubt.

Erected in 1875, the Wilder Block building had been a marvel of the day with its cast-iron and granite corner pilasters, ornate metal cornice, colorful ribbon of tiles between the third and fourth floors, and enormous plate-glass windows. The Wilder Block building hosted a variety of businesses over the years, including a furniture shop, an upholstery shop, a photographer—and even an undertaker. In the early 1900s the top two floors were converted into apartments.

The building housed a photo shop and music store and was home to ten people in seven apartments when the first alarm reached the Brattleboro fire department at 6 a.m. on the morning of December 4, 2004. Although the fire was declared under control by 10 a.m., it wasn’t declared extinguished until
midnight. The damage was extensive.

“At first it was unclear if the top two floors could be saved,” explained Connie Snow, of the Brattleboro Area Community Land Trust (BACLT). “There’s a building across the street that was once a four-story building that is now just one or two. Once something like that is demolished you never get it back.”

Walk through the building now, and you would never know there had been a fire.

That’s why a wide-ranging group of concerned individuals and organizations banded together soon after the Wilder Block building burned to see if there was any way to preserve the old building for future generations.

“There was a lot of interest right off the bat,” said Snow. “I really credit the town officials and fire department. Not only did the fire department save what was left, but they worked with us in brainstorming ways to save the top two floors. The mayor of Brattleboro and Paul Bruhn, from the Preservation Trust of Vermont, convened a group within days of the fire. Engineering reports were ordered, and a decision was reached that the top two floors did not have to be demolished.”

The process of stabilizing the top two floors began in concert with the search for an owner with the financial means to pay for a full restoration of the building.

“Fairly quickly we determined that the BACLT might have the best chance of raising the funds to do it,” said Snow. “We develop affordable housing with a variety of grants, loans, and tax credits. Typically we raise our funds and then buy a building. In this case, because of the need to move forward with stabilization quickly, we were going to have to buy the building first and figure out how to fund it second. That made our board a little nervous, so we partnered with a group in Burlington called Housing Vermont.

“We had to raise several hundred thousand dollars for (the stabilization) and then put our plans together for the ultimate restoration and fundraise for that.”

By late February 2005, less than three months after the fire, BACLT closed on the building. Williams & Frehsee, Inc., was brought on to work up the plans for the restoration and Trumbull-Nelson was hired as general contractor.

“The biggest challenge was trying to repair and match the many historical components that were unique to the building,” explained McDermet, the architect for the project. “That’s always very difficult. As a preservationist, there are some compromises you have to make that you really don’t want to have to make. For example, we had to take the entire metal ceiling down and then firecode behind it and put it back up.”

The architect gives credit to the workmen on the project, headed by Roger White, Site Superintendent for Trumbull-Nelson. “He was just incredible, one of the big reasons why it turned out so well,” said McDermet. “And they picked very good subcontractors. This was one of the best projects I’ve worked on in terms of the craftsmanship of the masons. I can’t say enough about them. Something like this is a juggling act between the old and the new but I would say the building is going back into much better shape than it was in before.”

a new kitchen in a top-floor apartment.

David Harrison served as Project Manager for Trumbull-Nelson on the Wilder Block building. “It was a big job but we’ve done a lot of rehab work on buildings,” he said. “This one was pretty much a full gut between the fire damage and the water damage. The building was vacant for almost a year. When we came in the plaster was all mildewed and there was mold all over the place. It was in pretty rough shape.”

Walk through the building now, and you would never know there had been a fire. The top two floors house eight airy one-bedroom apartments with towering ceilings and seven-foot windows, some with views of the Connecticut River. All are accessible by an elevator installed after the fire.

“We have a range of affordability,” explained Snow. “A couple have Section Eight certificates attached so the tenants can live in the units and just pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. Others have set rents, but are targeted to various income levels. All are affordable.”

The second floor will house the River Gallery Art School, while the first floor will be home to a fine wine shop and wine bar.

While the top two floors feature new construction inside, the first two floors have been lovingly restored from ceiling to floor. “It was important to historic preservation that the center circulation corridor be preserved,” said Snow. “That has all the tin ceilings and the doors with the transom windows off the hallways.”

The exterior of the old building is now freed from the cocoon of scaffolds that encased it for the better part of a year. It is again true to its historic roots, right down to the decorative metal cornice, the strip of tiles David Harrison located in South America, and the carefully repaired brick front.

“To me there’s tremendous satisfaction and I think the same would go for the Brattleboro Area Community Land Trust,” said Harrison of the restored Wilder Block building. “That’s the reason they pulled the money together to save the place. Seeing how this turned out just strengthens my respect for and interest in old buildings. I’m a firm believer in renovating and restoring whenever possible. It’s so different from the big box culture of strip malls.

“Buildings like this will last a long time.”