BRUNSWICK

Parishioners at St. John the Baptist Church will likely appeal a split decision by Brunswick’s Village Review Board denying a demolition permit for a former convent building on the church’s property.

On Tuesday, the board voted 3-3, effectively rejecting the parish’s request for a permit to demolish the more than 100- year- old building, which for 90 years served as the residence of the order of Ursuline Sisters. Board members Janet Roberts, Jane Creighton and Jeff Pelletier voted in favor of the demolition; Emily Swan, Brooks Stoddard, and Laurie Leader voted against. Board member Elizabeth Marr was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

Charles Wiercinski, an engineer advising the parish on the project, told the board after Tuesday’s vote that the “only next step is to go to the appeals board” to argue the decision “ on economic grounds.”

“The cost of rehabilitation or relocation (of the building) is prohibitive and if you agree that our presentation is correct,” Wiercinski said, “you still have to give us findings and what we’ll do is go to the Zoning Board of Appeals almost on the same basis.”

In October, the VRB cast a unanimous vote to postpone a decision on the demolition permit for 90 days. At that meeting, Brunswick Director of Planning and Development Anna Breinich said that the 90- day moratorium would allow time for the parish to consider relocating the building and exploring alternatives to demolition.

The church has sought to demolish the building to construct a parking lot on that side of the building to make it easier for disabled people to enter the church through its only fully accessible entrance.

During the church’s first plea to demolish the former convent, Donald Leaver the business coordinator for All Saints Parish, of which St. John’s is a member, said that the church has “a dire need for handicap access.”

Following the vote Tuesday, the Village Review Board drafted a finding of fact to explain the decision amid some confusion about how the finding should be stated after the split vote.

Town Planner Kris Hultgren said Thursday that the final language of that finding would be completed sometime this morning. During Tuesday’s meeting, Village Review Board chairwoman Emily Swan outlined the general arc of the findings:

— That the Village Review Board found the former convent “contributes to the character of the village review zone and its demolition would be detrimental to the traditional streetscape of the area” and would destroy “work by one of Brunswick’s most important architects,” Samuel B. Dunning.

— That although the building is not listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it “appears to be national register eligible” based on the design by Dunning — identified as “ Brunswick’s first architect” in a report by the Pejepscot Historical Society.

— That the “condition of the structure is fundamentally sound” and that “the applicant has not contributed to any significant deterioration of the building.”

In a survey conducted for the church by Malone Commercial Brokers, Inc., associate broker Peter Harrington wrote that the building “is in overall poor condition,” and would cost an estimated $230,000 to renovate. Harrington estimated the building to be worth approximately $110,000 in its current state, at its current location.

Since the October moratorium on demolition for the building, the parish has continued to solicit potential movers that could take the building for free, paying only moving costs.

According to a Dec. 21 memo from Leaver, four people have contacted the church with initial interest in the rectory building.

But none have followed through. One, Leaver wrote, was deterred by a price tag for moving the building that would likely exceed $100,000.

The church is asking anyone with interest in the building to call 725-2624.

Take a look at the church property here:

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dfishell@timesrecord.com / @darrenfishell