Members of the Project Notification and Review System (PNRS) Board says a land use permit was not issued for the demolition of the Old Navy Bake House in Fagatogo before the building was demolished.
Two members of the Board who did not wish to be named told KHJ News that there was no application for a land use permit to begin with.
But after the building was taken down, Public Works filed an application with PNRS,
Public Works is one of the departments represented on the PNRS Board.
The members who spoke with KHJ News speculated that had an application for a land use permit for demolition of the building been filed, this would have set off the process for review of the impact of the proposed work.
And and this includes evaluating the historical aspects of the building.
KHJ News has been able to verify that the demolition work was carried out on orders of the Governor and perhaps the only department that was aware of the demolition plan before it happened was Public Works.
The demolition of the building which is on the US National Register of Historic Places started last Monday.
Governor Lolo Moliga who was at the site Friday told KHJ News that the building was beyond saving.
He also confirmed that the site is where the fire station will be relocated to.
Other than the PNRS regulations not being followed in the demolition of the building, historical preservation procedures for a landmark such as this were also bypassed.
KHJ News saw Titanic Construction trucks at the site and how they were selected for the job is not known.
There are concerns that there’s not enough space at the site for the new fire station for fast and free movement of the firetrucks and that a section of the Fagatogo malae may be given up for parking.
Governor Lolo dismissed concerns about inadequate space for the fire trucks at the new site.
