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A 300-year-old building that was home to a family-run pizzeria could soon be rebuilt at Charing Cross if plans to salvage the fire-wrecked restaurant are approved.
Pizzeria Romana's premises at 17 Charing Cross burnt down in April 2019 in a blaze that needed a total of 23 firefighters to control it.
The fire caused significant damage. with windows being blown out as well as holes forming on the roof, which lost a significant amount of tiles and was removed for safety reasons a few days later.
As a result, the Pizzeria Romana team were forced to move out and have since been dishing out pizzas from a temporary location at 2 Elizabeth Place, Cheapside.
Pictured: Pizzeria Romana is one of few surviving examples of 18th century architecture in town.
Pizzeria Romana's original restaurant and its neighbour, 16 Charing Cross, are two of few surviving examples of 18th century architecture within central town with many original features.
It is listed, meaning that it gets special protection from development under the law, due to the original early 18th century roof beams and internal woodwork, as well as the historic joinery fittings, fireplace surrounds and staircase from the early 20th century.
Architects Dyson and Buesnel have now submitted a planning application to restore "the very popular" restaurant to its former glory.
They said the application aimed to "merely re-build the restaurant on the same style and form as the original proposal", save from a few improvements to ensure the new built complies with current building fire, sanitary and access regulations.
Pictured: The roof of the building suffered significant damage.
The front of the building will be retained while the original roof structure will be reinstalled. The new building will stand at the same height as the original building.
The building's internal structure will also be the same, with the "feature timbers" being reused as much as possible.
Due to the floor being damaged by water, a new one will be installed.
The Preliminary Structural Report compiled by Beaumont Structural Consultants noted that, in addition to the "extensive damage" caused by the fire, the building had also suffered from water damage due to the amount of water used to extinguish the fire.
Pictured: Pizzeria Romana's temporary home at Cheapside.
In addition, the building had to be cleared of debris, which only took place recently due to the presence of asbestos-containing materials in them.
Beaumont Structural Consultants said that the building was not protected from the weather during that time and "exceptional rainfall" had caused more damage to the building superstructure and foundations.
The application follows another by the restaurant's neighbour, The Luggage Shop, to restore a traditional facade.
In documents submitted to the Planning Department, its owners said they hope “to remove the existing glazed aluminium shopfront and create a new glazed timber shopfront to replicate a traditional Victorian shopfront, similar to others found in Queens Street, St. Helier".
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