Fire-ravaged Lynn home to be demolished

LYNN – The single-family home at 54 Sewell St. has withstood three fires in last six months, but it doesn’t look like it will escape the wrecking ball.The city has put a bid out to have the dilapidated home demolished.”(City) Council requested that get it demolished and that’s what we’re doing,” said Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan.Donovan estimates it will cost between $25,000 and $30,000 to bring down the dingy single family home located one block in from Eastern Avenue. Patriot Properties lists the land at $124,300, a significant drop from what it was listed at last summer.In August, when the council first put a demolition order on the home, it was listed as being worth $222,900, but it was also pictured as a fairly intact property.Today the front windows of the home are plastered with warning notices announcing the white house with black trim and boarded-up windows as uninhabitable and winterized, which means it has antifreeze in the toilet and pipes. There is also a large hole in the roof and the charred remains of a back porch. The garage, which in August looked as if it had been slashed with an axe, has since been removed.Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr had called the property a nuisance. He said it was owned by a management company, but it had dropped the ball in terms of upkeep.Donovan said once the demolition bids come in, he will send a request to the council to cover the cost of tearing it down.”Then we’ll have a lien put on the property,” Donovan said. “They will have to pay if they want to sell the property.”Donovan said 54 Sewell is just one of five abandoned properties on his demolition list. Homes on Pinkham Place, Graves Avenue, Rowell Avenue and Bayview Avenue are also scheduled to be torn down. The work will not be immediate. Notices must be sent, hearings held and often the threat of litigation will spur a property owner to action, but, thus far, that has not happened with these five properties. However, Donovan said before demolition can be carried out, a hygienist has to go through the property to check for the presence of lead paint, asbestos, mercury and oil tanks. He said they don’t want any costly surprises when the houses do come down.Graves Avenue is in the pipeline, next on the schedule for a visit by a hygienist, then, “we’ll keep going out every couple of weeks until the list is complete,” Donovan said.Bids for the demolition of 54 Sewell St. are due December 3.