The long vacant Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) building on Willow Valley Rd. is a relatively scary place for many reasons. Not least among them the ghost stories and hauntings derived from the decades-old tragic shooting, and I’m sure many emotional stories that are a natural byproduct of a hospital serving the community for more than a century. The buildings also operated briefly as a mental health facility and a minimum security prison at points in its history. A storied past indeed. In recent years though, it’s the very real threat of fires in this old building that frightens me the most.
Vacant buildings commonly attract illegal activities such as break ins, vandalism, theft and arson, creating unsafe environments and increasing crime rates in surrounding communities. When not overseen properly, vacant properties often become dumping grounds for trash or hazardous waste, which could lead to soil and water contamination. Derelict buildings are attractive to those who are houseless and are prone to accidental fires due to a variety of reasons: faulty wiring, accumulated debris, lack of maintenance, trespassers and warming fires. Most often, it is when warming fires set buildings ablaze.
These risks endanger occupants and neighboring properties, and put unneeded strain on our emergency personnel and resources.
I saw this firsthand a few years back at 414 Broad Street, right across from my old office. In August 2020, the Nevada City Planning Commission rejected a third buyer’s proposal to restore the vacant property. At that meeting, the applicants warned “We think it would be worthy for the commission to know that currently the house is frequently broken into. On multiple occasions we’ve found heroin cookspoons in the basement of the property. I’ve personally witnessed people sitting on the back steps of the property smoking crack cocaine. And we’ve seen evidence of break ins and even small, what I would assume, warming fires in the property. The real danger of the property either collapsing or inadvertently being caught on fire and causing a major issue in the downtown area, it’s real and the commission should think about that.” Five months later in January 2021, it happened, a fire broke out at 414 Broad St., a stones throw away from City Hall. Thankfully, this did not occur during fire season or during a windstorm or it could have been absolutely devastating.
Most residents of our town do not know that the old HEW site holds all of these same risks. The historic building complex has been vacant for nearly two decades now. Parts of the exterior show years of graffiti and the insides are a frightening display of innumerable break-ins, broken windows and destructive vandalism. It took a sheriff’s report in 2018 citing 393 incidents over 14 years, for the county to finally approve a request of the owner to have a caretaker be onsite. Thankfully this has reduced the number of break ins dramatically, but they still average nearly one every month.
Yet, we have all been lucky over the years that nothing bad has happened there and no one has been hurt. It’s easy to take that for granted when you have a diligent and responsible property owner, like Bill Litchfield, a local contractor/builder who purchased the property from the County in 2012. Litchfield has spent a great deal of effort and resources over the last thirteen years to keep the historic building from further deterioration and intentional destruction, and the grounds from being completely overgrown, trespassed or misused. Each break-in comes with a cost, as does the security system, maintaining and repairing the building and the grounds, retaining NID water service, paying City and property taxes, hazard insurance and other holding costs. Some other landlord could easily let this historic site become an even bigger hazard. As the saying goes about fires, “it isn’t if, it’s when.” We don’t have to let this historic building become a public health or safety emergency.
Fortunately, Litchfield is now doing something innovative by offering a unique invitation to the public to co-create the future of the historic site through a community-inspired design process, aptly named: HEW Renew.
Community-inspired design engages people to define their own needs and aspirations. Can we design a space that is of service and benefit to Nevada City, is attractive and also attracts what we need, and that mitigates impacts and concerns by actively collaborating with the community? We, the Nevada City community, have the opportunity with HEW Renew to get creative and address the risks of vacant buildings in our community in new ways that meet our needs. Nevada City deserves spaces that are safe, useful and beautiful; a reflection of our amazing community.
Its past may have been haunted,but we can re-imagine a new future for this historic building and grounds. You can learn more and participate in the community inspired design process at www.hewrenew.com.