Hope has not been enough to change the disintegration of the Woolworth building in Haverhill.
It is past time to replace hope with realism, and tear the building down before it becomes a hazard as well as an eyesore.
The art-deco style building at the corner of Main and Merrimack streets — the eastern gateway to the downtown — has been vacant for more than 40 years, since F.W. Woolworth Co. closed the former department store in the 1960s. It has been declining into dereliction ever since. It is now one of the city's most prominent eyesores.
About 10 days ago, a chunk of concrete fell from the top of the building. Police brought in the Highway Department, which removed a couple of other pieces from the facade. Since then, the city has erected temporary scaffolding to keep people from walking directly in front of it.
The building's owners since 2005, the Greater Haverhill Foundation, have also hired an engineering firm to conduct a structural analysis to see if the building can be repaired or must be demolished.
But even if it is structurally sound, what is the purpose of letting it sit there, as an unspoken message to all those coming into Haverhill that suggests the city is not vibrant and growing but stagnant?
City Councilor William Ryan is right to call for it to be torn down. "It serves no purpose other than as an eyesore for the city's entrance," he said.
Mayor James Fiorentini and Ronald Trombley, an officer in the foundation, have said that if the building is structurally sound, they will aggressively market it at a downtown developers conference scheduled for the spring.
But any hope that this will yield a positive result is more than dubious. The building has sat there, vacant, through boom and bust, for decades. If it was attractive, a developer would have snapped it up long ago. While the recession may technically be over, the economy is still struggling.
"Enough is enough," as Ryan said. It is time to tear the building down.
