Lynn’s Waterworks awaits demolition

LYNN – The demolition of the city’s old Waterworks building on Walnut Street is set to take place during the first week of February to make way for five single family homes and two two-family homes on the site.The empty façade of the roughly 120-year-old building is all that remains of the former facility, which residents and abutters collectively agreed to raze at a public hearing in July, stating the structure was unsound and a financial risk for developers to renovate.Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development (LHAND) Manager Peggy Phelps said portions of the building such as archways and other objects will be salvaged to incorporate into the new residences.”It’s really a shame that we have to tear the building down, and we wouldn’t if money weren’t an issue, but in this day and age, it has to be done,” she said. “But at least the archways will create something to remember from the building.”Phelps said the new residences would be sold at both market and affordable rates with three on Childs Street, two on Flint Street, and two multi-family homes on Walnut Street.”We’re all ready to go,” she said. “The demo will take two months, so hopefully construction will begin in early spring. Then we’ll move into a six-to-eight month construction phase with the homes finished by the end of the year.”The building is currently surrounded by five newly constructed affordable and market priced homes that were a project by LHAND and the Lynn Community Development Housing Corporation (LCDHC).Construction from the new residences caused quite a stir among abutters, who were concerned with noise and rodents.Phelps said she has been working on addressing the issues to make sure that they don’t resurface for the second phase of construction.”Knock on wood, we haven’t had any problems with rodents because it’s so cold outside,” she said. “So I think the cold has helped kill a lot of the rats, but we have also baited every one or two weeks to keep them away.”