A court decision protecting an historic building in Wallingford from demolition establishes a new precedent in Connecticut, which may help to preserve its remaining historic resources, lawyers and preservationists say.
Superior Court Judge Robert Berdon issued his ruling Friday, which also recognized the alternative of selling an historic building as “prudent and feasible alternative” to demolition.
The ruling protects a two-story, Queen Anne-style house on South Main Street, built around 1890 and owned since 1995 by the town, which sought to replace the building with a gazebo and bandstand.
The property, known as the American Legion building, is part of the Wallingford Center Historic District and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993.
“This case is important for protecting historic resources because it is the first time a permanent injunction has been issued by a Connecticut court to permanently preserve a building on the National Register,” said Attorney General George Jepsen, whose office represented the Commission on Culture & Tourism (formerly the Connecticut Historical Commission) in the case.
Historic structures, landmarks or contributing structures are protected under the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act.
“We welcome the decision for many reasons, but of particular note is Judge Berdon’s statement that there is a public trust in state historic resources and it is in the public interest to protect such resources from unreasonable destruction,” said Helen Higgins, executive director of
Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, which joined the suit as a “friend of the court.”
Elizabeth Merritt, general counsel to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, called the decision “a wonderful precedent.”
 “At a time when many other states,” Merritt said, “are seeing the courts chip away at their strong state preservation laws, it is encouraging to see Connecticut’s law continue to be so effective.”
