Annapolis assesses damage, plots to restore its buildings

Annapolis, Md., treasures its old buildings the way other cities love their sports teams. So residents watched with dread as a five-alarm fire tore through three late 19th-century buildings in the heart of Main Street.

Friday night’s fire was under control shortly before midnight, and all three buildings remained standing Saturday. But after fire inspectors and structural engineers spent the day assessing the damage, city officials condemned the center building, which houses Zachary’s Jewelers, and ordered its three-story white cinderblock facade be demolished today.

Fire inspectors continued to look for the cause of the fire Saturday night.

Harvey Blonder, who owns the building occupied by Zachary’s as well as one of the other buildings, and has a long-term lease on the third, said the damage could run into millions of dollars.

“I’ve spoken to the mayor, and the city has a structural engineer on the way to look at it,” said Blonder. “I think everybody wants to work together, and hopefully we can get it rebuilt right away.”

But the city’s love for historic architecture can also mean lengthy debate among city officials, historic preservationists and business owners. The site of two century-old downtown buildings that burned eight years ago remains an empty lot.

Steve Samaras, owner of the Zachary’s shop, said none of his employees was injured when the blaze erupted at 7:51 p.m. Most of the merchandise, especially the high-end diamond pieces, was saved. “The inventory seems to be pretty much intact, thankfully,” Samaras said.

The store, like most shops downtown, was open late for the post-Thanksgiving sales rush.

The Candy Factory and Main Street Ice Cream also were significantly damaged. The three buildings, each three stories, are attached, making access difficult for firefighters.

A fourth building, A.L. Goodies General Store, suffered smoke damage. Famous for its free fudge samples, it remained open Saturday selling Annapolis souvenirs and T-shirts as the smell of smoke permeated the air.

The last major fire on Main Street, on Dec. 9, 1997, destroyed two century-old buildings just blocks away from the site of Friday’s blaze. The lot remains vacant after battles over the use of the property, including a dispute over whether a 99-year-old brick wall left standing after the fire should be preserved. A storm finally settled the matter, weakening the wall so much that it was deemed unsafe and torn down.

“I hope we’ve learned from the lessons of that fire eight years ago,” said Gregory Stiverson, president of the Historic Annapolis Foundation, “and that we’ll be able to work together to make sure that these three buildings are repaired as quickly as possible.”

Part of what makes Annapolis special is that it has largely been spared from many of the devastating fires that struck other East Coast cities, Stiverson said. But that’s also what makes the loss of one building so difficult to bear.

“Most other towns, if you lose three buildings, you lose three buildings,” he said. “In Annapolis, you have that context of 300 years of buildings that make the streetscape so varied, so when you lose a part of that, it’s a particular loss.”