WATERVILLE — Two buildings on Water Street are scheduled for demolition next week.
At 7 a.m. Monday, the city will use excavation equipment to remove structures at 41 and 43 Water St., Public Works Director Mark Turner said.
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“It’s going to be a controlled tear down,” he said.
City Manager Mike Roy said the city recently acquired the buildings from Northeast Bank for $1. On Tuesday, the City Council voted to approve demolition.
“They are in very poor shape structurally,” Roy said. “Neither one was fit for repair or renovation. They are just too far gone.”
The buildings were constructed in the early 1900s, City Assessor Paul Castonguay said. In 2006, they were bought by Jerome Scola. In 2011, Northeast Bank assumed ownership after the property was apparently abandoned by Scola.
Both buildings are on a single .12-acre lot, he said.
The city intends to sell the lot to an abutter, and a price hasn’t been established yet, Roy said.
Turner said the cost of demolition will be less than $10,000. The city will contract some of the work to Bill Mushero Inc. and Pine Tree Waste. The debris will be hauled to Capital Transfer on Airport Road.
Turner estimates the project will take three to four days for the tear down and filling and re-grading the lot, depending on weather. Public works will return to the project in the spring to seed the land for grass.
The project will be funded by the downtown tax increment financing district, Roy said. The TIF was established in 2005 and has funded sidewalk repairs, a downtown forgivable loan program to help startup businesses — which benefited Selah Tea and the Silver Street Tavern — and beautification projects.
“This helps show the value of the Downtown TIF,” Roy said of the demolition project. “This city is able to get rid of dangerous buildings without having to dip into tax dollars. And, in addition to removing an eyesore, it will create some open space in a very dense neighborhood.”
Ben McCanna — 861-9239
bmccanna@centralmaine.com
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