An Everett contractor last Friday was named the winning bidder to take down the fire-ravaged Stevens Street mill just outside Lafayette Square in Haverhill.
NorthStar Contracting Group bid $3.98 million to demolish the abandoned mill complex the size of two football fields, according to Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett. In addition to the demolition contract, she also signed a contract with Fuss and O’Neill in Boston to supervise asbestos removal as required by the state Department of Environmental Protection. That contract is not to exceed $242,000, she said. The mayor also signed a contract with Advance Security Services of Plaistow, N.H., for $50,000 to maintain an around-the-clock guard on site.
NorthStar was the second highest bidder among the six offers the city received by its May 8 deadline. Other bidders were Atlantic Coast Dismantling, Saugus, for $3.4 million; Costello Dismantling, Wareham, for $4.3 million; Regional Industrial Corporation, Worcester, for $2.39 million; RSG Contracting, Lowell, for $1.85 million; and S & R Corporation, Lowell, $1.93 million.
Barrett told WHAV that while the total of the three contracts is under the $5 million cost, she projected two weeks ago, “there are still a lot of unknowns.” In an emergency session on May 8, Haverhill City Council authorized the mayor to spend up to $5 million to take down the building.
In its bid breakdown, NorthStar projected that asbestos disposal alone will cost $2.76 million. Taking the building down will cost $450.000 with $249,000 allocated for additional support labor and temporary fencing $40,000. Founded in 1986, NorthStar recently completed the demolition of the nine-story Riverview condo complex in Cambridge. The company also removed the asbestos and exterior façade of the 41-story skyscraper at 1 Post Office Square in Boston.
Barrett is returning to the Council Tuesday to request a formal determination the site is a public safety hazard and to request authority to borrow the money.
During the recent emergency session Barrett told councilors she asked the state for financial assistance. As of yesterday, Barrett said, she has not received a response, “but we are ever hopeful.” She said city has placed another lien on the building to recoup expenses from the trust that owns the property. Previous liens filed show the Florida-based trustees already owe the city back taxes and the costs of previously boarding the mill after a 2015 fire.
Barrett said she is hopeful demolition will get underway by the end of the week, but maybe as soon as Wednesday. She has also been told to expect the process to take at least 100 days. She added the contractor cannot work on weekends because the sites that accept demolition debris are closed. She said her priority is reopening Stevens Street to allow the six businesses affected by the fire to resume normal operations. She said business owners have been permitted to return to their business under supervision to remove supplies so that they can do business in a temporary location.
Firefighters were called to the vacant mill in the early hours of Tuesday, April 28, and discovered an inferno. Temperatures were estimated to have reached 1,200 to 1,800 degrees, enough to destabilize the building’s major structural steel girders and walls. The department used over three million gallons of water and 820 gallons of diesel fuel to get the fire under control. Three teens have been charged with setting the building on fire.