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Date: 5/2/2023
LUDLOW — Westmass Development Corporation is looking to demolish and remove an eight-story stock house building in the Ludlow Mills to benefit the ongoing development.
The historic complex is owned and managed by Westmass.
Operations Vice President Sarah la Cour and Leasing & Marketing Manager Sean O’Donnell from Westmass Development Corporation met with the Historical Commission at its March 29 meeting to present their plan to remove the Mill 11 storage building.
The stock house was originally constructed in 1913 as a storage warehouse for Mill 11.
Both la Cour and O’Donnell reported that they have researched the building to find viable options for its use but have had no luck.
The current building does not meet any of the building codes and efforts to renovate and restore it to code would be cost-prohibitive.
Current concerns include low ceilings, columns and concrete slab floors that cannot be brought to code for any commercial or residential use.
For example, occupiable spaces require a ceiling height of no less than 7 feet, 6 inches by Massachusetts state building code.
Currently, each floor is only 6 feet, 10 inches from the floor to the ceiling.
According to la Cour, removing and demolishing the building is the only option for ongoing redevelopment of the mills. The building’s removal is necessary to provide access, road frontage and feasible adjacent parking to the complex.
There is also no domestic water, sewer or heating available on in the upper seven floors and the windows and roof contain asbestos.
O’Donnell and la Cour asked for a letter of support from the Historical Commission to demolish the stock house.
The Historical Commission voted 4-1 to demolish the building and Historical Commission Chair John Moll added he will ask other departments in town for input and approval.
The Ludlow Mills has been an ongoing project that has already added new businesses and living spaces to town including Iron Duke Brewing, the Ludlow Senior Center, the Riverwalk and senior housing at Mill 10 and eventually Mill 8.
The presentation stated that the next steps for the project will include securing funding for abatement of hazardous materials, submitting project notification form to the Massachusetts Historical Commission and prepare and submit a demolition permit application to Ludlow Building Department.
The Planning Board read the letter from Moll at its April 13 meeting and had no concerns with the proposed idea.
Town Planner Doug Stefancik added, “They looked at so many uses and it is just so limited because of the height. They always had a hard time with this building and I think demolition of this building was always apart of the original plan.”