Essex Street's Truell building to be torn down

Merrimack Valley

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March 12, 2009

By Jill Harmacinski

LAWRENCE — A 90-year-old building on Essex Street is coming down this summer as the city continues its efforts to revitalize the heart of downtown.

City officials plan to use a combination of state and federal grant money, including economic stimulus funds, to demolish the Truell building at 372 Essex St.

The demolition is one of a number of recent improvements on Essex Street, which included returning it to two-way traffic last summer.

The nearly 9,000-square-foot Truell building is considered surplus city property and has been off the tax rolls for 18 years and counting, officials said.

Taking down the building and removing environmental hazards there will cost around $400,000. But left behind will be a clean site ready for sale and new development, said Michael Sweeney, city planning director.

"This end of Essex Street has needed some TLC for some time," Sweeney said.

The property is across the street from the InTown Mall, where Northern Essex Community College is building a $20 million Allied Health and Sciences Center.

Made of brick, the Truell building has three floors and a flat roof.

"We know the building has to come down. It's just not a viable building," said James Barnes, the city's community development director.

Future reuse must be done in both a creative and strategic way, he and Sweeney agreed.

"The relationship to NECC is an important aspect of that," Barnes said.

Demolishing the building does not require City Council approval. However, selling the cleared site to a developer will. Once leveled, it's unknown how much money the property could fetch the city, Sweeney said.

"I'm positive there will be significant interest," said Sweeney, noting the asking price will be determined "based on market conditions."

The Lawrence Redevelopment Authority also may provide money to cover demolition costs. The authority's mission is to foster redevelopment of blighted areas. The Truell building has been an "eyesore for many years now," said Lawrence Redevelopment Authority Chairman Mark LaPlante.

"There could be an opportunity here to partner with the city to provide some funding and help with the restoration of that block of Essex Street," LaPlante said.

Built around 1920, the building is believed to have once held a dry goods store run by Byron Truell, said April Lyskowsky, a city land use specialist who investigated the building's history.

In more recent years, the Truell building housed the Claddagh Pub, which later moved to its current site at 399 Canal St., and a Goodwill store.

Over the years, the city tried to sell the property as is.

In 2005, a Chelmsford construction company wanted to buy the building for $75,000 to create storefronts and new apartments. But the City Council killed the sale because they felt the project's financing relied too heavily on tax credits.

At that time, the city was going to use $1.4 million from its annual Community Development Block Grant money to, in part, fund the project.

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