NASHUA – Nashua’s code enforcement team descended on the city’s largest rooming house last week, days after aldermen questioned the conditions at the property and whether the city should be spending any funds there.

An 11-person team spent several hours at 23-25 Temple St., otherwise known as the Temple Street Hotel, for the second time this summer looking for code, building safety, fire and health violations and whether previously highlighted issues had been repaired, said Nelson Ortega, manager of the city’s Code Enforcement Department.

The inspection has been scheduled as a follow-up to one that city officials conducted in July.

“There was improvement in a lot of areas,” Ortega said of the large brick building at the corner of Temple and Spring streets that once served as a YMCA.

A report detailing findings by fire, safety, health and other officials is being compiled and should be available soon, he said.

The city has been focusing inspections this year on its eight rooming houses, which provide short- and long-term housing in separate rooms that often use shared bathrooms.

With 122 rooms, the Temple Street Hotel is much larger than the others – the next biggest, the Laton House at Railroad Square, has about 44 rooms – and generates the most complaints.

“We’ve been working with this property for years now,” Ortega said.

Violations found during the inspection include sanitary issues, both within units and within the building, and utility issues, such as electrical work done without proper permits.

The July 15 visit found dozens of violations ranging from unplugged fire detectors, faulty wiring and leaking roofs to bedbug infestations, toilets that wouldn’t flush and, in one case, a bucket of moldy urine, according to a notice of violation the city sent to the building’s owner, 23-25 Temple Street Realty LLC.

A Telegraph reporter and photographer attempted to accompany the Sept. 9 inspections but were not allowed in the building by a pair of men who said they represented the building’s owners.

The building’s issues came to public attention recently during a city Finance Committee meeting when some officials questioned why the city Welfare Department gives assistance to residents in buildings with such problems.

“I guess given what we are seeing happening at those locations, is this the right place to put the city money?” Ward 9 Alderman Ken Siegel said, according to minutes of the meeting.

Board of Alderman President David Deane said he has been frustrated with conditions at the Temple Street building, citing a man seen unconscious outside and multiple police cruisers there on other occasions.

“That 23 Temple Street, if we looked at the resources between our police, fire and ambulance services in this city, it’s staggering,” he said, according to the minutes.

Mayor Donnalee Lozeau said although she isn’t happy with how the building is “managed or cared for,” the city welfare office issues assistance to people based on need. Where they live isn’t a factor in that decision, she said.

“We don’t have discretion on where we pay the funds,” Lozeau said, according to the minutes. “It’s about the individual that qualifies for the services and where they can get housed, whether it’s temporary or not.

“We don’t get to say we are not going to pay if you are here or there.”

Joseph G. Cote can be reached
at 594-6415 or jcote@nashua
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