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The apartment building at the top of Cliff Street is expected to be demolished this week.
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The three-story building is caving in on the bottom.
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The removal of the Cliff Street building was in the same bid as Modern Liquors, which was razed last week.

Decrepit North Adams Apartment Building Coming Down

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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The nearly 4,000 square-foot building is sandwiched between two other large apartment buildings in much better condition.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A Cliff Street apartment building that's seen better days is finally coming down this week.

The six-unit building at the top of Cliff has been vacant for some time and was blocked off with jersey barriers a few weeks ago when the front threatened to collapse.

Mayor Richard Alcombright said an "all-call" was sent out to neighbors to let them know staging for the demolition would begin Tuesday or Wednesday.

"The road will always be open but people may want to avoid it," he said.

The property was taken for taxes last year; the century-old, three-story building has been vacant for some time. There are temporary supports set up to prevent the structure from completely collapsing.

The Cliff Street removal is from the same bid for the demolition of the Modern Liquors building on State Street and both are being funded from Community Development Block Grant monies.


"The [demolition] at Modern Liquors took about four days longer than we had anticipated because of the concrete in the ground," said mayor. He estimated the Cliff Street demolition at about four days.

The city is going to try to take down some more properties later this summer, including two on Edgewood Avenue approved for removal in late 2014.

"We have a list of probably 30 buildings that were OK'ed for demolition, but that doesn't mean they get demo'ed that year," said the mayor.

"We have to look every year and prioritize which ones are dangerous," he said. "We also look at which ones are corridor improvements; we look at different dynamics."

The Edgewood ones are also outside the perimeter for use of CDBG funds. The mayor said the city is looking at a waiver but may end up using stabilization funds to demolish them.

"I'm thinking of including those two properties in an appropriation from stabilization. We're going to wait and see how we are in August, when we close out the year," he said.


Tags: demolition,   

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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