HAVERHILL — The city expects to know in a month whether the Woolworth building at the eastern gateway to downtown needs to be repaired or demolished or is fine to be left alone until its owners can try to find a buyer this spring.
Ronald Trombley, an officer of the Greater Haverhill Foundation realty trust that owns the property, said the group has retained an engineering firm to conduct a full structural analysis of the art deco-style building at the corner of Main and Merrimack streets. The results should be known in three to four weeks, Trombley said.
If the building is deemed safe, Trombley and Mayor James Fiorentini said they will aggressively market it at a downtown developers conference the city is planning this spring. If the building is not structurally sound, the foundation will have to either make the necessary repairs or demolish it, the mayor said. Ultimately, it is up to city Building Inspector Richard Osborne to determine whether the building is safe and should or shouldn't be condemned and razed, Fiorentini said.
In a letter to the City Council, the mayor said the building inspector's "rough estimate" for demolishing the building is $350,000 to $500,000. It would be up to the foundation to pay to demolish the building if it is unsafe and it decides not to repair it, Fiorentini said.
The building has been vacant and deteriorating on the banks of the Merrimack River since F.W. Woolworth Co. closed the former department store there in the 1960s.
Trombley said "a new building is the ultimate resolution" to the dilapidated structure, but he cautioned that demolishing it now might not be the best course of action.
"A hole on the street may not be best," he said, referring to what it might look like with an empty lot in place of the building. "We think there's upside down the road."
The City Council took up the condition and future of the building last night — a week after a piece of the building's exterior masonry fell to the sidewalk. The foundation put scaffolding around the structure this week.
City Councilor William Ryan began the discussion last night by saying the building should be demolished.
"There's no market right now," Ryan said, referring to the foundation's unsuccessful attempts to sell the property since it bought it four years ago for $1.4 million.
"It could be five or 10 years before the market is ready," Ryan said. "I suggest we tear it down. There's no parking, there's water in the walls and the roof is going to go. We could make it a park with benches and a lawn until someone is ready to buy it and develop it."
Trombley said the foundation has retained engineer Paul Bergman to examine the structure's integrity, including its walls, foundation and roof. Bergman said he plans to begin the project tomorrow morning, possibly with city officials. He said he expects to have a report for the council to review at its Feb. 2 meeting.
Fiorentini said the foundation has "cooperated fully" with all the city's requests relative to the Woolworth building.
The foundation, a nonprofit economic development corporation that works closely with the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, bought the property in 2005 from its longtime former owner, Richard Cretarola.
The sale sparked speculation that various developers were interested in building a high-rise condominium complex with retail shops and a restaurant on the ground floor. A public park facing the Merrimack River and new boat docks were envisioned as well.
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