Interim Tiverton Town administrator Patrick Jones apologized Monday for the town's failure to prevent the destruction of the Lafayette House at 3118 Main Road last month, telling members of the town council that Tiverton should consider tightening protections for historic properties to prevent something similar from ever happening again.

“I think we owe the citizens of our community an apology for failing them because we did not do our due diligence in preserving our character and our history,” Jones said. There were no comments or response from the council members present.

The Lafayette House, the oldest portion of which dates to 1730, played a small but notable role in the Revolutionary War and for a short time housed the French Marquis De Lafayette, an ally of the Patriots who fought alongside colonists to drive the British out of Rhode Island. The structure was demolished one week before Christmas, about two months after property owner David Rose received a permit to take it down.

Though former building inspector John Hoyle Jr. reviewed and signed the demolition permit in October, preservationists pointed to his failure to catch Rose's 'No' answer on a portion of the application that prompted him to state whether the home was on any state, national or local historic register. The house is named on a list of historic structures available on the town's website, and that list is also on file with the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission.

Calls for change

Almost before the Lafayette House's dust settled, outraged historic preservationists complained that they never knew the house was threatened, and criticized Hoyle for failing to properly review Rose's permit application or let members of the town's Historic Preservation Advisory Board know of the permit. Hoyle resigned in late December, about three weeks after he went on leave following Jones' arrival as interim town administrator.

On Monday, Jones conceded the town's failures, and said Tiverton can and should do more to protect the town's heritage. He suggested that Tiverton officials work with the board, and the state, to codify historic preservation protections to prevent the town's “character” from being lost.

“With all of the developments that are going on in our community, I think we have an absolute necessity," he said.

Currently, there is little on the books to prevent something similar happening again, advisory board chairwoman Susan Anderson has said in previous interviews.

Under Chapter 18, Article III of Tiverton Town Ordinances, the town is not required to contact preservationists or board members when a home listed as historic is in danger of being demolished.

Anderson said board members tried to change that last year when they proposed n ordinance change that would have required the town to notify the board of any demolition permit within 15 days of its issuance. Though board members recommended to the council that the new requirement be added, Anderson said it was apparently never reviewed and ultimately was never added to the town's ordinance.

“I don’t know what happened to it,” she said late last month.

Anderson attended Monday's council meeting and said Jones' comments are encouraging.

“It sounded like he wanted to work more with our board and that is a good thing,” she said.

She also said that advisory board members met Wednesday morning to discuss their next step. At that meeting, Tiverton attorney Fred Stachura, a specialist in historic preservation law, offered his services.