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Thursday, May 23, 2013
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Compromise worked out over Court Street windows

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The flap over windows on Stephen J. Bradley’s Court Street building has been resolved.

Mr. Bradley said Friday that he and Neighbors of Watertown officials have worked out an agreement that will allow him to restart work on his project to convert the upper floors of his building at 150 Court St. into apartments.

As he had planned, Mr. Bradley, whose business, Abbey Carpet, occupies a storefront in the building, can use the smaller third-floor windows as part of the project. But, Mr. Bradley said, he must install transoms above those windows.

Transoms are small windows that are placed above solid beams to separate the top of a window or door from the wall.

Mr. Bradley, a former Watertown City Council member, declined to discuss the compromise except to say he “is satisfied because the project is moving forward.” When asked how much the transoms were costing him, he said only, “enough.” Work can proceed as soon as the transoms are delivered in about three weeks.

In October, the issue over the windows had become such a controversy that representatives from the Watertown Local Development Corp. and Watertown Savings Bank met with Mr. Bradley and Neighbors Executive Director Gary C. Beasley to see if something could be worked out to resolve the issue.

Mr. Beasley, who was out of the office Friday and Monday and could not be reached for comment, had expressed concern then that the windows were not historically correct and did not match windows in adjacent buildings. He also contended the smaller third-floor windows did not comply with strict guidelines under the New York Main Street facade program that Neighbors was overseeing.

As a result, Mr. Beasley issued a stop-work order.

In October, Mr. Bradley said he had to use the smaller windows because of the juxtaposition of the ceiling on that floor, and he had to follow state fire codes. He also said he has tried to maintain other historical characteristics of the building during the project.

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