Essex House collapse poses questions, concerns

The long-abandoned Essex House suffered a collapse before its scheduled demolition could start. Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs

City Council President Kevin Jourdain told Reminder Publications he is considering an ordinance that would standardize the way the city handles abandoned buildings to provide greater transparency moving forward.

Part of the long-vacant building collapsed on Dec. 11, damaging a building that houses a beauty salon and sending nine families living in another building into temporary shelter.

At a press conference on Dec. 12, Mayor Alex Morse declined to find blame for the collapse, which he called unfortunate but not unexpected, and City Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez said, Its time to move forward forget the blaming.

Morse did mention that three city councilors voted against the allocation of funds and added, Unfortunately, in government everything can be politicized.

Morse said the top three floors of the eight-floor building would be removed first to prevent any additional collapses and potential damage to adjoining buildings.

The City Council had approved an allocation of $1.4 million for the demolition, but Morse said he is not sure if the manner the demolition must now be handled will add to the cost or not.

Speaking on Dec. 16, Morses Chief of Staff Rory Casey said the necessary equipment is still en route to Holyoke. Once it arrives here, demolition will take three to five weeks to complete.

He explained the original plans before the collapse had the contractors build a scaffold around the building and take it down brick by brick. The collapse has complicated those plans.

Right now the contractors are preparing for the demolition by placing equipment within the bakery next to the Essex he added.

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Essex House collapse poses questions, concerns