LYNN — The old Union Hospital has been vacated, but it isn’t quite ready to be razed in favor of the senior housing units that’ll rise in its place.
In the meantime, the building will be used as a training ground for Lynn firefighters. According to both David J. Solimine Jr., who is developing the old hospital, and Lt. Joseph Zukas of the fire department, the layout is ideal for such purposes.
Long-range plans call for a complex that, when finished, can act as a one-stop shopping network for seniors, with an Element Care office (which manages the PACE program) setting up residence in the rear of the old hospital. That’ll be next to the new urgent care center that opened earlier this fall.
“It’s a unique property,” said Zukas. “It’s ideal for us, because it has a lot of elements that can help us train people”
Among them, said Zukas, are elevators, standpipes and sprinkler systems.
“Also,” he said, “they’re allowing us to put holes in the roof, which is very important. When you go to a fire, it gets very hot, obviously. One of the things you need is ventilation.”
The fact there are elevators in the building allows firefighters to learn how to pry doors open, Zukas said, to rescue people trapped inside.
Training at an old building isn’t anything new to the fire department. At one point, the old Marshall Middle School in East Lynn was used as well, and the department has also used abandoned dwellings around the city.
Solimine said that other groups have also requested to use the building for training purposes, including the Boston FBI and the Lynn Police, both for tactical training.
“Well possibly put something together after the beginning of the year,” Solimine said.
As for the building itself, which opened in 1953, Solimine said there several steps that need to be taken before demolition begins.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” he said. “It’s ongoing. I’ve applied for a demolition permit with the city, but before they issue the permit, we need to cut all the utilities, abate all the asbestos. I anticipate that the work will take several months.
“We’ve started the process,” he said. “We don’t have a timeline. Right now, we’re in the process of abating asbestos.”
The rear part of the building, entering through the back lot, will be salvaged and given over to Element Care.
“The rest of the building is coming down,” he said. “We’re working through all the pieces of things. Architects are working on plans for the new building, but we still have to work with the city on zoning. Every day’s a challenge.”
Solimine did say plans call for extensive landscaping, and that one of the things he would endeavor to save is the Healing Center, an extensive garden for which David J. Solimine Sr. and his wife, Mary Jane, were lead donors.
We’re working on creating green space, and that’s some of the spaces we’ve designed around,” he said. “We hope to keep the Healing Garden as an open space.”
