Late last week, Oak Bluffs building inspector Mark Barbadoro said, he sent a registered letter to Benjamin Hall Jr. of Edgartown, requesting entry into the Island theater. Mr. Hall, a lawyer, represents the Lucky Seven Trust, the hall’s holding company and owner of record for the moribund and deteriorating building that sits at the foot of Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs.
Mr. Barbadoro told The Times that as of Wednesday, he has not received a return receipt or a phone call from Mr. Hall. “I requested entry to determine if the theater needs to be placarded as an unsafe building,” Mr. Barbadoro said, adding that he has not been inside the theater since he began working for the town in October.
“There are three conditions that can render a building unsafe,” he said. “Open and exposed to the weather, which I don’t need entry to make a determination; especially unsafe in case of fire, which I don’t think it is; and structurally unsafe, which right now is a maybe. I don’t want to make their lives difficult, I just want to make sure the building is safe. My objective is to get the building in much better repair by spring. It’s in everyone’s best interest to get it done.”
In an email to The Times on Wednesday, Benjamin Hall Jr. said he was not aware of any letter from Mr. Barbadoro, and indicated that he and his brother and co-owner Brian Hall were in frequent communication with the building inspector.
“The owner has been for some time working closely with the new OB building inspector to get him information he has requested in order for work to be recommenced at the theater,” he said.
Mr. Hall explained that the cease-and-desist order issued last spring by former Oak Bluffs building inspector James Dunn left the roof in disrepair and the building interior open to the elements, further complicating and delaying repairs. “The only avenue to appeal this order took several months to be heard,” he said. “The State Board voted to reverse the order. Shortly thereafter, the new inspector took over. He has asked for a different series of drawings and the use of construction control to move forward. These have been in process, but I understand there should soon be complete specs and drawings so the repairs can recommence.”
In a conversation with The Times, Brian Hall said he’d been receiving frequent calls from Mr. Barbadoro, and that he’s currently working with engineer Reid Silva to determine what materials will best suit the roof repair. “It’s an old building with a lot of unknown materials, and it’s a complex process for the engineers to determine the best materials that will meet the specs to make it as strong, or stronger, than it was originally built,” he said. “I’m waiting on the certification of that plan so the building inspector will issue the permit for the work.”
Mr. Hall said that there are negotiations with a prospective tenant, whom he declined to name. The tenant will ultimately be responsible for the repairs to the roof, truss, and walls of the theater, but negotiations cannot proceed until the final costs have been determined. “Once I have a building permit with specs of how the job needs to be done, I will give that information to the tenant,” he said.“They need to know what’s required to get the building back into condition before they’ll sign the lease.”
