Mayor concerned about buildings

By Nate Luscombe

Staff Writer

CHICOPEE The former Uniroyal Tire Company building and buildings in the old Chicopee Industrial Park are scheduled to be torn down as part of Mayor Michael Bissonnette's "Bosch to the Bridge" plan.

Bissonnette said last week that a date has not been set for demolition, but a special committee has been appointed to work on the project. The task force is made up of members from all the concerned departments: fire, police, building inspector, health, and economic development, among others.

The problem with the buildings as they sit now is largely health-related: they are packed with asbestos, Bissonnette said.

"Our first concern is to get the buildings down," Bissonnette said. "If a fire starts in there, not only are we going to have a fire that our fire department can't properly deal with, it would expose all that asbestos, which would be bad for the entire Pioneer Valley."

The current owners are coming out of bankruptcy, Bissonnette said, and don't have the money to take the buildings down. There is a $2 million tax lien on the property because of back taxes, and water and sewer bills.

"Because of the lien, the city could take the buildings," Bissonnette said. "But they come with the asbestos problem."

Bissonnette also said that there maybe be a PCB contamination issue under the old Uniroyal building as well.

PCB, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in electrical, heat transfer and hydraulic equipment before production of PCBs was stopped in 1977, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website. PCB was also used in rubber products, such as tires.

"This is the biggest challenge [in the Bosch to the Bridge plan]," Bissonnette said. "We're trying to organize and obtain funds to keep the project moving forward."

Bissonnette said he's heard a lot of interest in the Bosch to the Bridge plan, including some interest in the currently contaminated Uniroyal site.

"They need a substantial player in commercial development," he said. "Only someone with deep pockets and a good record could do it."

"It's a multi-facetted problem overlaid with serious environmental issues," Bissonnette said.

Bissonette called the 40 acres of property right on the Chicopee River "prime development land."

One building in the complex has some environmental issues, Bissonnette said, but rehabilitation of the building without demolition is a "real option."

Bissonnette conceded that the project will take time, as well as money.

"It's not easy," he said. "If it was easy, one of my predecessors would have done it already. We're trying to get the tough stuff done early to get it done."

Bissonnette said he expects the entire Bosch to the Bridge plan to take at least 10 years.

"We can't let the buildings sit there like it has for the last 15 years," he said.