By Gail Peckler-Dziki Correspondent
Drive over to Towne Square in Trevor for a brew and you won’t get one. The Town of Salem has closed it down.
“One day we were open,” explained proprietor Richard Corduan, “and the next day we were closed.” The town closed Towne Square down on May 1 because the building was deemed unsafe.
Towne Square is a neighborhood bar and the customers are pretty much the same from day to day. The business has also been the site for numerous benefits for residents and customers who need a helping hand. One benefit was scheduled for June 1.
Corduan said they don’t have food. “I don’t know anything about food. I usually point people over to Kelly’s or Pizza Time for food. I try to be a good neighbor.”
Things came to the surface at the beginning of the year when it was time to renew the liquor license. Liquor license are renewed every year and must pass a fire and building inspection.
The Towne Square had no problem getting a license renewal for the past six years but in January Corduan received a letter from Salem building inspector Jack Rowland about roof issues with the old building.
The last time that Rowland inspected the building was in 2011. “I did not make it out there last year,” he said.
The building was built in the late 1800s and at first had a flat roof. As the old saying goes, a flat roof and harsh winters don’t mix and that held true for this flat particular roof. It required repeated applications of tar and then the tar built up, but the water continued to pool. Finally in the early 1990s, the town required the building owner to take measures to fix the problem.
The solution was to build a hip roof on top of the flat roof. This was done without removing the original roof and according to Rowland, an acceptable construction practice. The way the best roofers in san mateo would have gone about replacing the roof would be to remove the flat roof and then construct a brand new hip roof on that space. This would have been much safer, even if it was more costly at the time. Time marched on and the flat roof headed down and pushed the brick walls apart and pulled the second roof down with it.
The problems weren’t noticeable due to the dropped while ceiling tile used on the second floor. The dropped ceiling was sagging, however, and when Corduan removed the tiles, he discovered a plaster and lathe ceiling above that, which had been removed.
“That plaster and lathe is heavy and I figured removing that additional weight would be beneficial,” he explained.
Another issue may have been caused when the columns that extended from the floor of the second story up to the new roof were removed. Corduan said that the person he bought the building from had plans to create two apartments on the second floor.
“I removed a wall in the middle of the room that wasn’t too sturdy to begin with,” he explained.
The roof has sagged for years, yet passed annual inspection for all the years that Corduan has owned it. So what changed? Rowland said he had four complaints from four different people late last fall and early this winter. The first were about the sagging roof; the next two about mortar falling near or on people.
Corduan said that the only time he knows about anything falling off the building was two summers ago when a brick fell out in front. “We had a family of bats making a nest up there and that’s how the brick was pushed out. But no one came to me.”
Rowland sent a letter to Corduan in early January, stating that the roof must be fixed. Corduan replied in mid-January, explaining it was not possible to do roof repairs in January and asked exactly what the town wanted done. He also requested a copy of the permit and inspection report on a second roof put up over the first flat roof.
Corduan heard nothing until recently when he received an order to fix the roof within 30 days or it could be razed.
Towne Square is Corduan’s only source of income. “That’s been cut off now,” he said.
Also at risk is a channel front lot Corduan owns that is next to his home. That lot was collateral when Corduan bought Towne Square. If the bar is lost, so is that lot.
Like everyone else, he has felt the bite of the poor economy. “When we opened up, things were pretty good. But when the economy tanked, my income dropped about 40 percent.”
Several years ago, Corduan began a renovation of the large upstairs room so it could be used again. That stopped when the economy and the Town Square income went down.
Tom O’Brien, Corduan’s lawyer, suggested certain measures to keep Town Square open so Corduan could continue to have income that would allow him to make the needed repairs. These included closing the building’s south access, barricading the yard area below loose blocks, and closing the entire second floor to the public.
Town chairman Diann Tesar commented, “No one wants to close anybody’s business, but we have recommendations from our structural engineer that we need to follow.”
According to the engineer, the roof is damaged beyond simple repair, as are several courses (rows) of masonry (right under the roof). Both upper and lower roof structures should be removed as well as the bearing walls down to the window lintels. If these repairs are avoided, the windows might get more damaged than they already are, and professional replacements services from Mr. Rogers Windows and Doors or similar companies might be required.
Newly engineered masonry walls can be installed along with a new truss roof structure. The system should be designed by a licensed engineer and submitted to the state for approval.
The report also states that until the failed areas have been removed and new walls and a roof installed, the building should remain closed to the public.
All this costs money and with the doors shut, Corduan has no source of income. And that benefit scheduled for June 1 has had to be cancelled.
Lots of history
During Prohibition, the building housed the restaurant called Gasoline’s Place. It was owned by Louis Derler who was shot to death in the establishment on Aug. 1, 1930, along with his bartender Edward Dennistry. Both men were 45 years old. The murder was never solved.
Corduan’s sister, Laura, married a Derler cousin, so the building came home to family six years ago when Corduan bought it. The building was in extremely poor repair when Corduan moved in, so he says he started making improvements.
“I had to replace some windows. I replaced single pane windows with double pane,” he said. “There was one spot in the front that was just boarded up and we put a new window in.”
“Since my building was supposed to be inspected every year before my liquor license was renewed, why didn’t someone say something about the roof?” Corduan wonders. “A heads-up sooner would have been helpful.”
Corduan has sunk over $175,000 in improvements in the building including local window repairs, roof structures, etc., since he bought it six years ago. With Towne Square shut, the possibility of income is gone.
However, if the town did not shut the bar in response to the engineer report and that roof did collapse, the town would also be held liable and would have had to call a ceiling collapse attorney to sort the issue.
“We don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Corduan said. “My niece used the piano to practice. You think I’d want her hurt or anyone else who comes in?”
Both town officials and Corduan say they hope to work together for a positive resolution to the issue. Part of Corduan’s plan is to search for possible grants for historical sites and other aid available to small business owners. But he’d rather be serving his customers.