Rehabilitation Work Begins On Fire-Damaged Building In Newtown Borough

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, Pa. — Rehabilitation work has begun on a fire-damaged building that has sat fenced off and boarded up since March 2022 in the heart of the town’s business district.

Newtown Borough building inspector Mike Italia confirmed this week that permits have been issued for a major rehabilitation project at the three-story brick building at 26 South State Street.

Much of the work will be taking place on the second and third floors where the bulk of the damage was concentrated, said Italia.

“When we went in there to look we couldn’t even go upstairs. It had burned through the floor,” he said. “The stairs need to be replaced going to the third floor. That was pretty bad. It took a beating with the fire,” he said of the structure.

“A lot of it has got to come down and come out because it’s just been sitting there full of water,” said Italia.

A fence blocks off the sidewalk in front of the fire-damaged building. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

After the fire damage is removed, the inside of the brick structure will be rehabbed and remediated, he said.

“What they typically do with these types of restorations is they take them down to the studs and the walls. They have to upgrade the installation and the electricity so it’s easier to take it down to the shell - the skeleton. And that building has really strong bones,” he said.

From the State Street side, Italia said don’t expect to see many changes.

“I believe they are going to maintain the facade so what you see out on State Street should remain the same. But there are some repairs that need to happen there.”

Italia was unable to provide a timeline for the project.

“I don’t have a timeline, but it’s moving now. I haven’t been notified of any inspections yet, but I know they want to get it moving and they obviously want to get it weather-tight before winter starts.”

According to Italia, the rehabilitation of the building had been delayed by a legal battle over insurance.

When the work is completed, the use of the building is expected to remain the same with apartments on the upper two floors and retail on the first floor.

The building was heavily damaged in a March 2022 fire that gutted the second and third-floor apartments and caused water damage to the Pro Shop on the first floor.

Firefighters from seven companies battled the fire for nearly an hour placing it under control at 1:49 a.m. and preventing it from spreading to adjacent structures in the town’s historic business district. Crews remained on the scene for several hours hitting hotspots and conducting mop-up operations.

The third-floor apartment sustained the brunt of the fire with fire, smoke, and water damage while the second-floor apartment and first-floor retail space sustained smoke and water damage.

A dumpster behind the building has been filled with debris. (Photo by Jeff Werner)