Gloucester Fire Department In Action
As time passes, Huntress decays
Worcester fire prompts new look at city's dilapidated
buildings
(Courtesy of Gloucester Daily Times)
By BARBARA TAORMINA
Photos by Mike Dean
Times staff
Word spread quickly this week that a new sign was about to be
posted on the abandoned Huntress Home on Emerson Avenue. Many
people assumed the three-story brick building that some residents
remember as the old poor farm had finally been condemned. But
Building Inspector John Barrigan hasn't ordered the property
owners, the Gloucester Housing Authority, to take the Huntress
Home down.
The yet-to-be posted sign is part of a new state code that
requires cities and towns to place notices that warn firefighters
and the public if a building is abandoned or structurally
unsound. The signs are also a warning that the local building
inspector has deemed it unsafe for firefighters to enter a
building in case of a fire.
The new rules come in the wake of last year's warehouse fire in
Worcester, where seven firefighters died trying to save a couple
they believed was trapped inside the building. Although no signs
will be required for at least another 90 days, Barrigan and Fire
Chief Barry McKay have already started to inspect buildings that
may require the signs.
About 10 local sites are now on an inspection list, including the
Surf restaurant in Magnolia, the Omni Wave building on Blackburn
Drive and the Methodist Church on Washington Street -- all of
which are empty but still structurally safe. But first on McKay's
list was the Huntress Home, which according to Barrigan and
McKay, is both vacant and dangerous.
"It's in a dilapidated condition and needs a lot of
work," said Barrigan, who toured the building with McKay
earlier this week. McKay has been worried about the Huntress Home
for years. "We looked at a whole bunch of things but the
structural deterioration really concerned me," he said.
"There's one room on the first floor where the floor is
slanting down to the basement."
Built in 1854, the Huntress Home served as a refuge for the
city's sick, elderly and poor for about 75 years. The building
was surrounded by gardens and pastures, and able-bodied residents
were required to work as part of their keep. But the city's poor
farm was phased out as a more modern welfare system was
established. During the 1980s, the Housing Authority took over
the property with the hope of creating low-rental housing. But
state funding for such projects dried up and the plan was
shelved.
For a while, the building was used as a transitional shelter for
homeless women and children. But it has been vacant and boarded
up for at least the past 10 years.
Over time, rain and snow have seeped in through a leaky roof and
broken windows. Water damage has rotted away beams and posts that
are critical to the structure of the building, said Barrigan.
In addition to the inspection, McKay plans to take firefighters
through the Huntress Home so they will be aware of the layout and
any dangers in case they are ever forced in enter the building
during a fire. As it now stands, the only time they would be
allowed to enter is if they believed someone was trapped inside.
Otherwise, they must fight any potential fire defensively, from
the outside of the building or, as McKay likes to put it,
"surround and drown."
Although the thrust of the new regulations is to promote safety
for firefighters, for Gloucester it has dragged the question of
the Huntress Home back into the spotlight. While Barrigan has not
condemned the building, the future of the Huntress Home is far
from certain.
Next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., the Housing Authority's board of
directors will meet at its office on Washington Street to discuss
the future of the building. According to Housing Authority
Director William Dugan, there is a growing sense of urgency that
has been underscored by the new safety signs.
"It's
a dangerous situation and we're concerned," Dugan said.
"We would like a determination. Does the building have a
future or does it need to come down?"Dugan does not want to
see the building razed, but he is realistic about the risk the
building now poses to the neighborhood and to firefighters.
During their tour of the Huntress Home, Barrigan and McKay found
a snuffed-out candle and some charred newspaper -- evidence that
trespassers have been lighting fires in the building.
Although the Housing Authority still has the option to turn the
Huntress Home into affordable housing, the design of the old
building would make such a renovation extremely expensive. And
other proposals, such as working and living space for locals
artists and private development, have languished for similar
reasons.
"Many people have looked at the building -- artists,
schools, the Community Development Department," said Dugan.
"It has either not been adaptable to users or it would take
too much money to make it work."
Dugan wouldn't speculate on how the board might vote or whether
it would vote at all. However, he did say he is ready to start
working with the city's Historical Commission to photograph the
building and the site to create a permanent record of Huntress in
case it is demolished.
Still, Dugan hopes some plan will emerge that will save the
building and put the space to good use."It's not a grand
building," he said. "But it's part of Gloucester's
history and history
isn't always grand."
