Two years after fire, renovations begin on Ellis Block in Springfield

Two years after a devastating fire gutted the downtown Ellis Block, destroying the town's movie theater in the process, construction workers were on readying the historic structure for rebuilding.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100710/NEWS02/707109907            Two years after fire, renovations begin on Ellis Block in Springfield  •  Rutland Herald  •  By Susan Smallheer - Published: July 10, 2010  Staff Writer  •  SPRINGFIELD — Exactly two years after a devastating fire gutted the downtown Ellis Block, reconstruction of the 1870 block and the town’s only movie theater has finally begun.  •  The historic downtown block was heavily damaged in the July 9, 2008, fire, set by a disgruntled 18-year-old tenant in the boarding house, which also housed the Springfield Theater, as well as a beauty salon. Forty people were left homeless in the fire, which also damaged the adjoining Lincoln Block, although no one was seriously hurt.  •  On Tuesday, demolition crews started gutting what was left behind and setting the stage for the reconstruction of the building.  •  “We’re going right back to brick,” said Vinnie Porcella of North Ridge Contractors of Deerfield, N.H., the demolition subcontractor on the project.  •  The worst of the debris from the fire was removed several months after the fire, said Porcella, a subcontractor for Ingram Construction of West Swanzey, N.H. Every effort is being made to save as many historic architectural details as possible, he said, pausing to point out a curved corner in an upstairs hall, which was still visible despite the partial demolition.  •  The demolition revealed an arched doorway behind what used to be the candy counter in the theater, leading to what will be the small commercial space. Porcella said he didn’t know whether the arch would be revealed in the new plans.  •  Porcella, who was working in Springfield on the reconstruction of the town’s two elementary schools at the time of the fire, said it will take his eight-man crew about a month to get everything removed.  •  William Maclay Architects of Waitsfield designed the renovation project.  •  A construction trailer from Ingram has already been set up in the parking lot next to the building. Porcella said plans call for about nine new one-bedroom apartments and the three movie screens. The project is expected to be completed in early 2011.  •  The theater auditorium largely escaped the five-alarm, nighttime fire, which brought about 100 area firefighters. They were able to keep the fire from spreading to the Lincoln Block, which nonetheless suffered heat and water damage.  •  Most of the fire damage was in the rear on the second floor, and the south wall, as well as the third floor, he said. A lot of masonry repair has to be done to the old brick he said.  •  The movie theater auditorium has the musty-moldy smell leftover from the fire, and the sloping floor has been stripped of any sign of the seats which had held Hollywood executives in July 2007, when the town won the right to host the world premiere of “The Simpsons” movie, based on the television family that lives in a mythical Springfield. All the memorabilia from the movie premiere had been moved out of the theater before the fire.  •  Porcella said he had hired three local young men to work on the demolition crew. The prevailing wage for a general laborer is $10.77 an hour, he said.  •  I told them the only requirement was work boots, long pants and a good attitude,” said Porcella, as he gave a visitor a tour of the building.  •  Porcella said he liked hiring local people for such a job because he said it gave the community for “ownership” of the project. Plus, he said, he doesn’t have to pay to put up the crew. Some of the young men he hired live just across the street, he said.  •  The main staircase in the building is still intact, complete with gray carpet, although it will ultimately be replaced, he said.  •  The original owners of the building sold the building to Housing Vermont and the Springfield Housing Authority, which will manage the property.  •  He said a total of 200 seats would be distributed between the three theaters in the new plan, with a large theater in the front section of the auditorium near the stage, and the remaining back portion of the theater split between two screening rooms with a central corridor. The lobby will be rebuilt in the same location, with bathrooms in the back of the auditorium.  •  Porcella said that a one-bedroom apartment, fully compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act requirements, would be built on the first floor where the hair salon was. A small commercial space is being reserved for the front of the building, he said.  •