Norwich - City officials will seek development proposals for the long-vacant Reid & Hughes building on Main Street but put off spending the $67,000 needed to patch the leaking rear lower roof, saying interior floors and walls already have decayed and collapsed and need to be replaced.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize the Norwich Community Development Corp. to go ahead with a request for proposals presented to the council in August that could include more than a $1 million contribution from the city to a potential project.

NCDC officials told the council they anticipate giving a three-month response time for developers to submit proposals and will report timelines to the City Council in October. Included in a 17-page report to the council last month was a suggestion that the development proposals could extend beyond the Reid & Hughes building.

NCDC President Robert Mills said Wednesday that the RFP would cover the city-owned Reid & Hughes building, but would include a "developer defined opportunity" that could stretch beyond the 21,000-square-foot, split-level building to privately owned nearby buildings.

"We're hinting at it," Mills said.

Alderwoman Sofee Noblick, who sat on the previous Reid & Hughes committee that yielded one proposal rejected by the council for requesting too much in city subsidies, cautioned that any project would need heavy city financial contributions.

"No matter what," she said, "we're going to spend a ton of money on this building, whether we fix it, tear it down or work with a developer."

Alderman Mark Bettencourt supported the RFP, but hesitated on the amount of city assistance that might be requested. The project would qualify for downtown revitalization matching grants and loans and seven-year phased in property taxes in the downtown enterprise zone. The council also has the option to contribute cash to the project and waive building permit fees or utility fees.

After hearing comments from city Director of Inspections James Troeger, the City Council tabled a motion to spend $67,000 for a temporary fix on the lower level rear roof, which has a large hole. Water damage already has collapsed floors beneath that part of the roof "to the basement," Troeger said.

Dale Plummer, president of the Norwich Heritage Trust, a preservation group advocating for saving the Reid & Hughes, urged the council to do the temporary fix. He said the city made a "poor decision" in 2000 to repair only the roof on the higher portion of the building, erroneously deciding the lower portion was not historic.

"We have passed up other opportunities to fix the roof," Plummer said. "It is time to stop stalling and stop the leak."

c.bessette@theday.com