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Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD As he stood watching the apartment building at 268-284 Dwight Street Extension being demolished last Wednesday, Mayor Charles Ryan said the city would develop a re-use plan for that property and others it owns in the Hollywood section of the South End. The 48-unit apartment building at the corner of Oswego and Dwight Streets Extension was acquired by the city through court proceedings. It was condemned in January 2006, at which time 38 adults and 23 children were living there. This demolition marked the 55th blighted building taken down during the Ryan Administration. Ryan said the city would look to a re-use of the property once all of the buildings in the Hollywood section that need to be demolished have been taken down. He said the density in the area, dominated by multi-storied apartment buildings, must be lowered. The city currently owns 35 to 40 percent of the property in the neighborhood. He noted that single-family homes similar to a recent project in Holyoke might be appropriate for the area. The mayor pointed to an alley between the building being torn down and an adjacent building and explained that conditions such as that one have made crime flourish in the neighborhood and made policing difficult. Carl Deitz of the city's Office of Housing said the boarded-up building on Saratoga Street abutting the Dwight Street Extension building would also be torn down. He said the city would soon be going out to bid for that project. The demolition by Associated Building Wreckers cost $243,328. Ryan said that with the upcoming demolitions of the York Street Jail and the Chapman Valve building in Indian Orchard, the city would have spent $5 - 6 million on removing decrepit buildings. | ||||||
