The new owner of the Powell House in downtown Nevada City plans to renovate the historic building for new apartments and commercial space, and will be appearing at tonight’s Nevada City Planning Commission meeting.
At the meeting, slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall downtown, owner Brad Croul and architect Jeff Gold are scheduled to present their application for “interior and exterior remodeling and renovation of the Powell House,” according to the agenda.
“That house is a contributing building to the national register and within the historical district,” said City Planner Cindy Siegfried. “They kind of have an exciting project, proposing five apartments and some commercial retail on the first floor.
“That corner has kind of been looked at by the city, and they’ve been wondering what’s going to happen with it,” Siegfried added. “The City Council is excited.”
In 2006, the Powell House, which sits at Nevada City’s southern entryway on South Pine and Spring streets, was bought with the intent to convert it into a 10-room boutique hotel.
Ventura County developer Andrea Kitay paid $730,000, and expected to put much more than that into restoring and remodeling what she called “a fabulous wreck.”
City officials have hoped restoration of the Powell House would help anchor continued redevelopment along Spring Street.
The building was first constructed in 1855 as the home of First Baptist Church.
In 1886, E.T.R. Powell bought the building, converted the large congregation room into 16 rooms and divided the house into two separate living quarters. He manufactured soda in his bottle works in the ground-floor basement factory.
Charles Woods and David Osborn, founders of the American Victorian Museum, owned the building at one time as well, using it as a residence and boarding house before turning it into a “teddy bear castle” where 3,000 toy bears were on display.
The commission will be looking at architectural details and possible parking issues involved, Siegfried said.
“We’re viewing (tonight) as a sort of presentation or as a workshop,” Siegfried said.
While the commission’s normally scheduled Oct. 15 meeting is canceled, it will host a special meeting Oct. 22 to resolve any possible outstanding issues with the Powell House application, Siegfried said.
