PROVIDENCE – The owner of the Welcome Arnold House, an 18th-century Colonial on College Hill, has withdrawn his request to raze the building. His attorney told a city panel this week he will instead pursue a renovation of the historic structure.
The house, at 21 Planet St., was originally built in 1785 for a ship captain. It is now owned by Walter Bronhard, a Fall River resident who owns a large number of properties in College Hill, including several buildings on adjoining streets.
For months, Bronhard’s request to demolish the Welcome Arnold House and replace it with another residential structure has faced opposition from neighbors. The Providence Preservation Society has closely followed the application. Had the project been pursued, it would have involved the first razing of a Colonial-era house in the historic neighborhood in decades.
The application to demolish the house was withdrawn on Monday by John J. Garrahy, a Cranston attorney who represents Bronhard. He told the Providence Historic District Commission he would be following up with a new application, relating to a renovation for a residential use.
In an interview following the meeting, Garrahy said his client didn’t withdraw the application due to neighborhood opposition, but had instead determined that razing the building and replacing it would be as expensive as trying to save it.
Last year, Bronhard had received permission from the commission to replace the windows on the structure, intending at that time to gut and renovate the building. In the process of interior demolition, he had stopped the work and requested the demolition instead, after concluding the building was “too far gone” and could potentially endanger workers, according to Garrahy.
According to documents provided to the commission, Bronhard purchased the building from Great LLC for $626,000 on Aug. 17, 2015. The fair market value this year was determined by a real estate professional to be $492,500, according to an application exhibit.
Now Bronhard has decided to pursue the renovation instead. “It’s a difficult process to demolish a structure,” Garrahy said. “It’s a difficult process to renovate a structure.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
