DeLand’s historic Hotel Putnam’s future uncertain after fire

April 30--DELAND -- The Hotel Putnam's new owner may face a steeper climb to restore the historic building after last weekend's fire.

Mohamed Rashad, who recently purchased the long-vacant building, said Monday that structural engineers would need to assess the building before he can plan any further.

"I'm hoping the structure is still sound and that anything that happened to it can be remedied," Rashad said.

He said he has insurance on the building, but hadn't spoken with the company.

A few dozen firefighters responded to the property at 225 W. New York Ave. on Sunday night after a fire was spotted shortly before 9 p.m.

While Rashad is confident in the structural soundness of the building, made mostly of concrete and steel, he was disappointed at the thought of someone purposefully setting the building aflame.

"Police and the fire marshal have told me that people break into the building all the time," Rashad said. "I am sad, I don't know why somebody would do something like this to a historic landmark in the city."

DeLand Fire Chief Daniel Hanes said Monday it wasn't immediately clear where or how the blaze started, but multiple floors and the back of the building sustained fire damage and every floor sustained smoke and water damage.

He said the investigation by the State Fire Marshal likely will take several days.

While no signs of arson had been found Monday, Hanes said the fire is considered suspicious because "it didn't just start on its own" and there was no lightning strike.

Hanes said DeLand firefighters, with help from crews with Volusia County, Deltona and Orange City, went into a defensive mode and sprayed water into the building from outside.

He said there were concerns about the stability of the structure, so firefighters didn't enter the building to battle the blaze.

"The fire had such a big headway on us before we even got set up," Hanes said.

No one was injured in the fire and responders didn't find anyone else inside, Hanes said.

It's been nearly a century since the current structure was built.

A hotel was first built at the site in 1880 by Henry DeLand. Surrounded by fields of citrus trees, it was called the DeLand Grove House.

The hotel was then sold by DeLand, the city's founder, to Alfred Putnam who renamed it the Putnam House.

It had a couple more proprietors before it was destroyed by a fire in 1921.

A year or two later a new structure, lauded as Florida's first fireproof hotel, was built. It had 112 rooms and cost $433,000 to build.

There were more ownership changes, and in 2009 the property ended up in the hands of Jayne Rocco who tried to improve it. Residents were evicted in 2011, and Rocco fell behind on mortgage payments the following year.

JR's Saloon and Club Envy, the two clubs on the first floor, also closed about that time.

DeLand resident Guy Lakeway stopped by the property Monday afternoon to see how the place he used to work at was holding up.

"A lot of stories are in that building," said Lakeway, who worked as a dishwasher at the hotel in the 1980s.

Like others have said before, Lakeway would like to see the hotel refurbished and brought back to its original glory.

"I hope they don't give up," Lakeway, 57, said of the new owners. "It brings character to DeLand."

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