LAWRENCE — After two fires Sunday, sparked just six hours apart, officials said the abandoned and severely damaged Merrimac Paper Co. on South Canal Street needs to be torn down.
Sections of the roof in the once-thriving paper mill have collapsed. Gaping holes are left in the floor from where machinery was removed and metals inside were stripped by scavengers. There are no sprinklers or fire detectors. Vagrants who got into the building, which is not properly secured, are believed to have started both fires, acting fire Chief Brian Murphy said.
A three-alarm fire also damaged the 200,000-square-foot paper company building in November 2009. Vagrants were also blamed for starting that blaze.
"It's an extremely dangerous building and it needs to come down," Murphy said.
Adding to its shabby and now fire-torn appearance, the building's owner, Stephen Stapinski, also owes the city $2.5 million in back taxes, water and sewer bills, officials said yesterday.
Stapinski is also on a payment plan to reimburse the city for $150,000 in fire watch details racked up since December 2005. He now pays $1,000 per month on that bill.
Peter Blanchette, the city's inspectional services director, yesterday sent Stapinski a certified letter, telling him to "clean up or demolish" the building, said Leonard Degnan, Mayor William Lantigua's chief of staff.
If need be, the City Council may be asked to order the demolition. The city could also take Stapinski to court, if necessary, Degnan said.
"He has refused to pay his taxes. He has refused to address the situation. If he wants to be a developer in Lawrence he has to straighten out this property," Degnan said. "Enough is enough. The building needs to be torn down."
It was unclear yesterday if a historical section of the building, which dates back to 1865, could be saved. The city was established just 20 years earlier, in 1845.
Degnan said the cash-strapped city would be in a much better financial situation if it had the $2.5 million Stapinski owes in back payments. Lawrence officials are now trying to recoup $25 million in outstanding taxes and utility bills to bolster the city's financial recovery.
In July, 23 firefighters and 24 police officers were laid off to help balance the city's $72 million municipal budget.
On Sunday, firefighters from Lawrence and 14 area communities were called to fight the blazes and cover city firehouses.
Reached yesterday, Stapinski acknowledged the outstanding $2.5 million in tax and utility bills. He said he "wants to work with the city."
The owner of Merrimack Engineering Services in Andover, Stapinski said his property managers have been checking "every day or every other day" to make sure the building is secure. But, he noted, many people lock their doors but "come home to find they've been broken into."
"We've secured the building and if someone breaks in, we can't control it," Stapinski said. "If anybody got in there, I don't know how it happened."
He said his property managers are "very diligent" about keeping the building locked up.
However, Murphy said if Stapinski was indeed committed to keeping the building secure, vagrants wouldn't continue to get inside.
"He is supposed to keep the area secured but he has not done that," Murphy said. "These are people that should not be on that property."
Several years ago, Stapinski unveiled plans to build a $15 million combined commercial and 134-unit apartment complex at the paper company site. He wanted to raze the complex but said he couldn't get the city to issue the proper permits.
Formerly a specialty paper mill, Merrimac Paper Co. closed in June 2005 after filing for bankruptcy two years earlier. The company manufactured paper products ranging from colored office folders to specialty pages used in books.
"We are still working with the city to do whatever we have to do," Stapinski said. "We want to go forward and redevelop the site."
"We are not pleased about the fact that people would break in and start a fire. We are very happy no one was hurt," Stapinski said.
He added that if the city does order him to demolish the building or take other action, "We'll do it right away."
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