As she watched the Sumner Fleischmann’s Yeast Plant being torn down two weeks ago, Sara Hoime felt like she was losing a part of herself.

“It felt like I was being torn apart, really,” the Sumner resident said. “It’s so sad because that building had a lot of potential.”

Exactly two years ago, Sumner residents received notices announcing that Northstar Chemical, Inc. had applied for a permit to demolish the nearly 100-year-old yeast plant to build a chemical farm project. Earlier that year, Hoime had worked hard to get the building on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2007 Most Engangered Historic Properties list. The property had also become eligible for a spot on the National Register of Historic Places from the state’s Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.

“Based on the images you sent the property has a high level of architectural integrity and is eligible for the (National Register),” said the department’s Architectural Historian Michael Houser in a letter to Hoime. “(It) is a rare industrial type of structure.”

The eligibility never came to fruition, said Hoime, because she could not get consent from building owner Robert Code. Code, who applied for the demolition of the building, also applied for a permit on the chemical plant, said Sumner Community Development Director Paul Rogerson.

“Mr. Code decided over a year ago to try and get a separate permit for demolition that’s not related to the tank farm,” Rogerson explained. “There could be a variety of reasons (for demoliton) that he wouldn’t have to share with us. (The permit) was issued in the last couple of weeks, so he’s out there doing the work now.”

To obtain that permit, Code, who owns the approximately 16-acre acre property, had to follow not only the regular procedures, such as making sure utilities are disconnected, but was also required to do a historical analysis of the building.

“(Code’s analysis) well documented the history on that site so that could be preserved in at least a document form,” Rogerson said. “He had to take more steps but ultimately he did get it done and it was all issued.”

Rogerson said he understands resident concerns but thinks some Sumnerites have been misinformed. He stressed that the demolition was separate from the chemical farm.

“The farm is a separate issue (and there has) not been a permit issued for that,” Rogerson said, adding that an outside consultant is currently conducting an environmental impact study that will determine whether a permit can be issued. “There’s a lot of folks out there that probably don’t realize (Code) has a permit for demolition only and this isn’t related, from a permitting standpoint at least, to the chemical tank farm.”

That news is little solace for Hoime, who spent much of the past several years fighting the demolition. In her eyes, the majority of the damage is already done.

“If we just continue to let these historical structures be demolished, what is there going to be for the future to appreciate?" she questioned.