Investment Company Seeking To Demolish Former Doylestown Borough Hall

DOYLESTOWN BOROUGH, PA — An investment company will be seeking approval this week to demolish the former Doylestown Borough Hall to make way for a boutique hotel and restaurant.

ALOK Investments, Inc., is scheduled to appear before the Doylestown Historic Architectural Review Board on Thursday, April 27 where it will be asking for permission to demolish the early 1900s building located at 57 West Court Street.

The site originally housed the Methodist Episcopal Church built in 1838. In the early 1900s the building was converted into an armory, then a sports arena and eventually the Doylestown Garage. In 1915, a fire destroyed much of the original structure except for the building's exterior walls. The exterior walls were subsequently taken down and the current structure was built to house the new garage.

Sometime between 1959 and 1979 the front of the building was renovated to reflect a new use. The front facade was replaced with a hall-like pedestrian entrance. A second story was also removed.

In 1979, the building was sold to Doylestown Borough. It served as the Doylestown Borough Hall from 1979 to 2022 when the borough relocated its offices to its current site on Doyle Street.

The applicant is expected to argue before HARB that the current structure poses "significant challenges" for the redevelopment of the property, including its block construction, column layout, and roof truss configuration.

"The structure and foundation present fundamental major obstacles to modern day use, including for underground parking, load per square foot, elevators, accessibility and life safety," it says in its application.

The applicant also argues that the existing structure, as built in 1915 and modified between 1959 and 1979, "lacks the architectural or historical heritage sought to be preserved in Doylestown Borough. In addition, the property owner said it "lacks the relationship in design, arrangement, texture, material and color to similar features of 19th and 20th century historic buildings located in the district ... The building does not appear in the 'appropriate for Doylestown' images contained in the Doylestown Borough Design Guidelines and is more resembling the 'inappropriate images.'"

Although the proposed use of the new structure is not the subject of the April 27 hearing, ALOK Investments said it wants to replace the building with a "boutique hotel" and restaurant use.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Doylestown Borough Hall at 10 Doyle Street. The public is encouraged to attend.