The Development Applications Board has approved a request to demolish Overbay and erect a mixed use residential/office building.

Overbay is one of three single-storey homes on that stretch of Pitts Bay Road not yet replaced by commercial buildings, concerned citizen Mrs. Margaret Lloyd said.

It was a nice house with an attractive verandah, but "if the house was in isolation, I wouldn't be as concerned about it,'' Mrs. Lloyd said.

"Every day hundreds and hundreds of tourist walk by those houses, and we ought to try to keep them that way.'' Mr. Andrew Trimingham said the demolition was unnecessary and would be "a pity.'' "It's just one more step in the ribbon development'' beyond the limits of the Corporation of Hamilton "which we don't need,'' he said.

He understood the main reason for the demolition was to create a lavish executive apartment above the ground-floor office that would be created.

The rebuilding project is being conducted by Overbay Investments Ltd.

, which is owned in part by Mr. Peter Green.

Mr. Trimingham agreed that the three homes were valued as a group and "to lose one of them is damaging to the others as well''.

The middle house, 18th-century Falconer House, was the most interesting, he said.

Last night, architect Mr. Ted Wood of Onions, Bouchard & McCulloch issued a statement revealing the "new Overbay Building'' would be one storey higher than Overbay as it now stands.

The existing building, he said, was beyond repair with collapsing basement and tank walls.

Plans call for the new building to be set back further from the street to allow for a landscaped garden with mature plants and palm trees along the street front.

"The design is in a traditional Bermuda style with verandahs, individual windows, shutters and roof with residential proportions and scale,'' Mr. Wood said.

He said the new building would rebuild the front fence and verandah with materials and details based on the existing building in order to "retain the character of the street.

"The new design incorporates the typical image of Bermuda with abundant landscaping, stone walls, palm trees and stepped-profile white roofs. It will be a good example of the understated Bermuda style and a long-lasting asset to an area visible to tourists.'' Mr. Henry Ming, chairman of the National Trust's historic building committee, said OBM's description "sounds pretty good. If it was a virgin site, OBM's plan would be ideal''.

But OBM's plan ignores the fact the demolition will be one more chip out of the Island's historic character, he said. As a result, the Trust has filed an objection to the rebuilding plan.

Mr. Ming said Overbay in itself is not historically significant. Its value lies in its partnership with similar residential buildings along Pitts Bay Road up to and including Waterloo House.

But demolishing Overbay, which sits at the eastern end of that residential strip, would be like removing a rail from a railroad track, Mr. Ming said.

Together, the buildings present a scale and feel that the newer office buildings in the area don't.

"What we're beginning to see is the replacement of buildings that is losing the original character of Bermuda,'' Mr. Ming said. "Once one of these buildings is gone, that value is gone completely.'' Overbay's demolition is to start within the next two weeks.

UNDER THE GUN -- Overbay is set for demolition.