Lynn may want grease plant to relocate

LYNN – The question of whether local company American By-Products will rebuild on the site of a massive four-alarm fire that ripped through a section of Andrew Street last week has been on the minds of city officials since the blaze.Executive Director of the Economic Development & Industrial Corporation (EDIC) James Cowdell said while his first priority after the fire on Feb. 1 was to make sure American By-Products had everything it needed to get up and running again, his second thought was the future of the site.The former site acted as a transfer station for American By-Products that collects old grease from restaurants and transports it to local companies.Concern has risen that a fire could occur again if the company not only rebuilds on the same spot, but also houses the same products and chemicals that caused the combustion in the first place.”They have 22 employees at the company and we want to do whatever we can to keep them in the city, but the thought has crossed my mind about whether they can relocate to another spot,” he said.Legally however, Cowdell said owner Joe Cormier has the right to rebuild his company on the same exact spot without city approval.Although Cowdell said he has known Cormier for a long time and is aware of his good business practices, he is concerned with the type of products that were stored at the downtown site where roughly 250 people have relocated to and are now living near.”Now that he’s got a destroyed building, I’m wondering if there is an opportunity to build another building there instead like a mixed use,” he said. “The downtown area has changed a lot since Cormier opened up the business 25-30 years ago, and now is the time to see if there is an opportunity for him to move.”The fire, which was caused by spontaneous combustion of stored work gloves, gutted the company’s 14 Andrew St. office and garage along with two storefronts that Cormier rents to Hatch Hearing Aid Center and the office of Bratton & Springer LLP.The Good Samaritan Church, located at the corner of Andrew Street and Central Avenue, was also destroyed in the blaze.Right down the street sits an elderly housing complex and several other residential units, which people have moved into in the last two and a half years through a revitalization project spurred by the city.Because of the recent developments and improvements to the downtown district, Cowdell said he anticipates that he and other city officials will sit down in the near future with Cormier to discuss possibilities and find a win-win situation.”I do want to keep American By-Products in Lynn to save jobs, possibly on Bennett or Commercial streets,” he said. “Just some place more industrial then where it is now.”