It wasn’t long after the first fire call came in that Christopher and Angela LaFlamme were notified that their Bennington furniture store, LaFlamme’s Furniture at the intersection of Northside Drive and Vermont Route 7A, was engulfed in flames. This was back in January, which seems like a lifetime ago according to Angela LaFlamme, “So much has happened between now and then. We’ve received so much love and support from the community over the past five months that it made it easy to decide to stay in Bennington.”
On Monday, May 5, West Shore Management purchased the property at 239 West Main Street in Bennington, with the expectation of leasing it to LaFlamme's Furniture. Known as the former Alcaro Auto Dealership, a long-vacant, contaminated parcel in the heart of downtown, the property will soon be the new home of LaFlamme’s Furniture. “Being able to not only rebuild a business, but bring it into the downtown, while also revitalizing a once vacant property, that’s as good as it gets,” said Michael Harrington, Bennington Economic and Community Development Director.
The Town has been working with the LaFlammes since the day of the fire, and actively worked to facilitate the property transfer. The Town first acquired the property from the current owner in exchange for taxes due and then transferred the property in exchange for the LaFlammes commitment to perform the required environmental cleanup and renovate the property. Additionally, the town has
committed up to $100,000 of revolving loan monies to help get the project underway. “The loan monies were essential to this project; without having a way for the LaFlammes to renovate the building, while taking the necessary steps to de-contaminate the property, the project would not have been feasible,” Harrington went on to say.
After an investigation of the property several years ago it was determined that the property had been negatively impacted by its former use as an automotive garage, requiring certain measures be taken to remediate the property before it could be repurposed. Through the efforts of the Bennington County Regional Commission (BCRC), a Corrective Action Plan, approved by the EPA and VT Agency of Natural Resources, was developed to clean up the property. The existence of the approved Corrective Action Plan made it possible for the property to be re-developed without fear of environmental liability costs.
The Town’s planning director, Daniel Monks, who helped to coordinate resources for the project, was happy to see the sale finally happen. “The Select Board and Town staff knew going into this that it would be an uphill battle because of the environmental status of the property. The level of collaboration and teamwork that occurred among the LaFlammes, the Select Board and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources was remarkable. It was clear that the primary goal for all involved was to ensure that the property be brought back to life, and it is only through the collective efforts of all involved that this property will now be redeveloped. I am very proud of the active and vital role the Select Board played in this revitalization project. This project could not have succeeded without the strong and decisive leadership of the Select Board.”
It is unclear at this time what will happen to the iconic ‘Big Chair’ that was rebuilt by the LaFlammes in 2011 and placed at the original site, but the LaFlammes are hoping that its fate will be determined by the time they open the new store, which is scheduled for the Fall. “Ideally we would love to see the chair stay where it is and continue to welcome people to this wonderful community; however, we won’t know that for a while.” Said Christopher LaFlamme, who went on to share about what this project has meant for the staff of the Bennington store. “We are so grateful to our staff, especially those who have stuck with us throughout this ordeal. We made a decision early on to support our employees who were impacted by the fire by making sure they could operate out of our other stores, but in the end, the best support we could give was to rebuild right here in Bennington.
The LaFlammes will also be receiving funds from the State of Vermont’s Brownfields Assistance Program, which provides support for the decontamination of distressed properties.