Barrington officials are trying to save Belton Court.

During the recent town council meeting, Barrington Town Solicitor Michael Ursillo said the town was planning to meet with the owners of the former Zion Bible College property and discuss the future of Belton Court mansion, which has been tagged for demolition.

ShineHarmony LLC has owned the 39.5-acre property for years, and initially proposed a development that featured Belton Court as a centerpiece for the property. 

But last month, the property owner applied for a demolition permit to raze the historic building. The application for demolition showed that a company named Bilray Corporation, out of Johnston, was expected to complete the work at a cost of $675,000.

Ursillo said the town does not have the legal authority to block the demolition, even though Belton Court mansion is included on the National Register of Historic Places. 

“There are other ways to approach this, other than the legal approach,” Ursillo said toward the beginning of the Oct. 3 council meeting. “We will certainly use everything we can to negotiate something with the owners to get that building preserved.”

Late last week, Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey said town officials had met with representatives from ShineHarmony LLC. Hervey said he hoped to have an update on Belton Court soon. 

In recent years, mainly since the property was purchased by current owner ShineHarmony LLC, the mansion has slippe into disrepair — it has been the target of vandals and trespassers, its windows and doors have since been boarded over.

During the Oct. 3 council meeting, Ursillo tried to assure the public that town officials would do everything possible to preserve the Barrington landmark. Fred Acciardo spoke during the council meeting. Acciardo, who is related to the property’s original owner, the late Frederick Peck, offered some ideas about preserving the home. He asked if town officials had spoken with people from the historic society in Providence. 

Ursillo later responded: “We know what the goal is, but the ability to stop the demolition permit based on some legal theory that it’s a historic building and therefore it has to be preserved and cannot be torn down … is not a path that will be successful.”

Instead, the town aims to preserve the structure, if possible, through careful negotiations. 

“We’ll use everything in our disposal,” Ursillo said. “We won’t leave any stone unturned.”

Acciardo also asked if the property’s current owners were interested in donating Belton Court to a preservation group who could take on the burdensome task of renovating the structure. (ShineHarmony has said repairing the building would cost tens of millions of dollars.)

Ursillo said the town received many emails from residents and others who are concerned about the future of Belton Court. Some of the emails included suggestions about how the town might be able to aid in the preservation of the building, he said. 

The solicitor also said people could rest easy knowing that nothing would happen to the historic building until after the town had a chance to meet with the property owner. 

Ursillo reminded people at the meeting that if the property owners meet the necessary requirements for the demolition permit, the town would have no legal grounds to stop the demo. Ursillo said negotiations are the town’s best option, especially considering ShineHarmony’s willingness to meet with town officials. 

New master plan?

ShineHarmony’s current master plan for the property calls for an age-in-place retirement community. But more recently ShineHarmony officials unveiled designs to build a larger development that would not be age-restricted. 

During the council meeting, Ursillo referenced ShineHarmony’s master plan. 

“The master plan that was approved for development of that property included the preservation of that building,” he said, adding that a shift from that approach would require a new master plan. 

Barrington Town Council President Michael Carroll reiterated that point, stating that ShineHarmony was limited with what it could do with the development of the property. He said they have the approvals for building a retirement community, but if they want to do something else, they need to work with the town.

Thomas “TR” Rimoshytus spoke during the council meeting. He said the town had a chance to buy the property years ago but decided against it. Now, he said, after the developer put in for a demolition permit, town officials want to do something about it.

“Where was everybody 20 years ago when we could have done something with this property?” Rimoshytus asked. 

Another person at the meeting said the current owners had purposefully neglected the property, including Belton Court. She said there should be some consequences for the lack of care.