Grant will pay for demolition of Fitchburg plant

FITCHBURG -- The oft-vandalized former Central Steam Plant is one step closer to demolition thanks to the city being awarded a $500,000 brownfields remediation grant from MassDevelopment.

According to Mayor Lisa Wong, the grant funds will be used for asbestos abatement at the plant and demolition of the building. The city applied for the grant last spring and received confirmation of the award last week, she said.

"The Central Steam Plant is one of the last major sites in the city that was abandoned and left for the community to cleanup," Wong said Saturday. "The state has been wonderful in providing the funds necessary for Fitchburg to turn an eyesore into a community space for nature lovers. With significant transportation projects underway in West Fitchburg, this is a great way to spruce up an area where we anticipate future growth and investment."

Wong expects the project to cost about $500,000, but the final amount won't be known until bids come in. If they come in a great deal higher than that, the city may opt to do only a partial demolition or supplement the project with Community Development Block Grant funds set aside for demolition purposes, she said.

The Central Steam Plant, built in 1928, used to supply steam and electricity to power the mills along the Nashua River in West Fitchburg. It was last used in the 1980s, when it was damaged by a fire, Wong said. The city took control of the plant in 2004 and built the Steamline Trail in 2006,

The Central Steam Plant has been the target of repeated vandalism over the years, due to the presence of brass and copper items that thieves sell for scrap metal. Much of the machinery in the building still contains oil, and June break-in caused a large amount of that oil to leak into the Nashua River.

Over the next few weeks, the city will sign the agreement with the state and then develop a bid package, Wong said. She expects it will take several months to bid the project and said a contractor should be secured by early summer.

The project will start with asbestos abatement. That portion alone may take up to two to three months, she said, due to the layout of the building and a series of catwalks that may or may not be safe for workers to stand on.

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Grant will pay for demolition of Fitchburg plant