LAWRENCE — A little more than three months after fire devoured an entire city block, homes are starting to rise from the ashes.
Not only has the Market and Common streets block been razed and cleaned up, but the foundations for the Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity homes are finished, and a wall was put up on one of them this week.
Donations keep pouring in, allowing Habitat for Humanity to hire professional contractors to speed the work along. Habitat for Humanity received another significant donation — $10,000 — this week, this one from 3M, a Minnesota-based company with offices in Methuen and Haverhill. Habitat for Humanity also recently received another large donation from the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church in Wellesley Hills, which gave $16,500 from a special Sunday collection.
Typically, Habitat homes are built entirely by volunteers and take about 15 months to complete.
"We're targeting to get them built as soon as we can," said Larry Sharp, executive director for Habitat for Humanity. "We are putting top priority on the homes."
The Mbiye and Reyes families, both of Lawrence, were just days from moving into those homes before the fire tore them down in the frigid morning hours of Jan. 21. The fire destroyed a total of 14 buildings, among them four Habitat for Humanity homes on Market Street — two for those families and two more for families who hadn't been identified yet.
A reliable crew of volunteers had worked on those first two homes and were devastated to see them burnt down, Jodi Weeks, director of development for Habitat for Humanity, said. That same group decided to double their efforts rebuilding them, and are now devoting two days a week instead of one to building them back.
"This crew was really invested in Market Common before it burned," Weeks said. "Their heart and soul went into the first site, and their heart and soul is going into the second one."
Sharp said their architect, Robert Gould of Newburyport, who is also volunteering his services, is in the process of drawing up new plans for the two Habitat homes. They will soon put those plans out to bid for professional contractors. They're hoping to have a better estimate on how much the projects will cost after these plans are finished and determine how much they have left to raise. The homes will look almost exactly like the ones that burned down in January, with a few changes, Sharp said.
Meanwhile, the city is in the process of collaborating with the six property owners at the site and trying to come up with a plan for how to rebuild, Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan said. He said the plan should be drafted by June. Other than that, things are on hold for now.
"There's been no new developments on that front parcel," Sullivan said.
Sharp said he continues to be impressed with how quickly the volunteers have managed to start building on the site.
"The response of volunteers to come out and work on the place has just been overwhelming," Sharp said.
