New Britain Historical Society Looks to Save the W.L. Hatch Building
By Editor at June 28, 2024 | 8:00 pm | Print
It is a real possibility that the historic W.L. Hatch Building, located at 24 Washington Street, is scheduled to be sold very soon for commercial redevelopment. Built in 1929, this building is a fine example of Art Deco period architecture. It was occupied for several decades by the W.L. Hatch Insurance and Real Estate Company, as well as other similar businesses. The building is in need of many major repairs, including asbestos abatement. The past couple of decades brought sporadic ill-fated businesses in and out of the building, which only furthered the wear and tear it has sustained. The City of New Britain currently owns the building and has been considering offers from local developers. The asking price is $20, 000 and the buyer must agree to sign an addendum stating how long rehabilitation will take and that the property will not become a blight issue. We at the New Britain Historical Society have found this building ideal to serve as our headquarters for a variety of reasons - building design, historical significance, location, and size to name a few. We have successfully lobbied the City twice now to postpone the current pending sale, hopefully giving us enough time to get the money needed together. It is a common practice for many other towns and cities in Connecticut to sell buildings to their historical societies for as little as $1.00 because they understand how important preserving history is. This offer has not been made here in New Britain and so we have less than a month to raise the funds if we want to buy this building.
The building is a challenging business investment, even before the costs of repairs are taken into account. But, should the New Britain Historical Society take ownership of this charming old building, we would be able to pursue grants to renovate and restore it to its former glory. We would have a great deal of interest in restoring the building correctly and preserving it for the future, unlike a developer who would do “just enough” to get it back on the market in order to get a return on investment. We hope that many agree with us, that what we are proposing would be a far better use of this building, benefitting the city greater than another tenuous business venture. Creating a museum and community center for historical, cultural, and educational programs and events in the heart of downtown is top on our list. Colonial history, Veteran’s history, immigrant and cultural history, sports, basically all of New Britain’s history for all of its people can be covered with programs and events in the W. L. Hatch building.
There are several ways we can be reached if you would like to help us with this challenege:
Address: P.O. Box 2761, New Britain, CT 06050-2761
Phone: 860-249-3314
Emai:l [email protected]
Website: www.newbritainhistoricalsociety.org
Facebook: New Britain Historical Society
We have set up a PayPal donation link on our facebook page so that tax-deductable donations can be made to the building fund.
Also, contacting the Mayor’s office in support of our cause would be a great help and much appreciated!
