Town, firm clash over Texon building

By STEPHEN C. HILL
Staff Writer

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Saturday, February 13, 2010 Officials from both the Holyoke Gas & Electric Department and the town of South Hadley want to see the old Texon building demolished but disagree on how quickly and what measures should be taken.
Recently HG&E applied for an expedited permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to demolish the Texon Building, which it owns. "The building is unstable," said HG&E General Manger James Lavelle.

Meanwhile, town officials have written a letter to the Army Corps objecting to an expedited permit without a renewed commitment from HG&E to restore a significant portion of the historic canal, the first navigable canal in the country. The letter refers to a 2001 agreement on the demolition of the Texon building's boiler house that called for mitigating the loss of the historic building with the creation of a park and restoration of 9,400 square feet (about 300 linear feet) of the old canal.

"We're just trying to get what was laid out in the agreement," said John Hine, chairman of South Hadley's Selectboard.

Town Planner Richard Harris said the company recently proposed restoring a five foot section of the 1795 canal. "That's insulting," said Harris. "The canal is on the National Historic Register and a portion of it should be restored," he said.

The Selectboard has sought to place the issue in the hands of the Army Corps with a second letter, basically asking if the corps to decide what historic mitigation should be undertaken by HG&E if it demolishes the Texon building. The town would abide by the Corps' decision, according to the letter, but HG&E is not willing to make that commitment.

Lavelle said HG&E would be willing to discuss any ruling by the Corps, but would wait to make a commitment until a decision is reached. "We have a fiduciary responsibility to our ratepayers," said Lavelle.
HG&E, if it removes the Texon building at a cost of $700,000, will have spent about $2 million on the riverfront area, including building two parks for which contracts have been signed and work is to begin in the spring. "That building is an eyesore and an impediment to redeveloping the Falls area," Lavelle said. "We think the demolition of the building is mitigation enough," he said.

Town officials say HG&E should simply live up to its prior agreements.
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Mill building razing nears

Thursday, December 10, 2009
By SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE
sconstantine@repub.com

SOUTH HADLEY - All that stands between the dilapidated former Texon building along the Connecticut River in the Falls section

and demolition is a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the manager of the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department.

James M. Lavelle said recently he believes the granting of the permit is imminent and hopes to raze the building as soon as possible. The utility holds the building along with land above and below it along the river as part of the property it owns as part of the Holyoke Dam, which is above the Texon structure

Either developing or razing the former brick, mill building is a condition of the Holyoke utility's license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to operate the dam. The federal government has also stipulated that the Gas and Electric Department must also build a park along the river.

The utility had worked with Holyoke landlord Herbert G. Berezin over the last several years to get the building redeveloped, something on which local officials had pinned their hopes for revitalizing the economically depressed Falls section. Berezin, who had hoped to develop at $10 million retail complex with housing, was never able to get financing for the project.

"It has been very difficult to line up all the financing because of the economic crisis," Berezin said. "It is the right project at the wrong time."

At $552,000, Testa Corp. of Wakefield was the lowest bidder of the five companies competing to do the demolition project, Lavelle said.

Meanwhile, work on the long-awaited Gatehouse Park to the north of the building at the gatehouse to the Holyoke Dam started before Thanksgiving and should be finished by the end of the month, he said.

Mountain View Landscape of Chicopee is doing that project for $235,000.

"All of that area is going to be cleaned up very nicely. It's going to be a big improvement," Lavelle said.

Plans call for an overlook and trail with plantings and benches.

Proposed demolition of former Texon Mill Building

HG & E put an announcement in the Central Register for demolition and site clean-up of the former Texon Mill building. They estimate the cost at $664,000. Two mandatory pre-bid meetings at 9 Carew Street are scheduled for August 11th and 18th at 11:00.

Jennifer L. Wolowicz

Interim Town Administrator

Town of South Hadley

413-538-5017 (Phone)

413-534-1041 (Fax)

From South Hadley native John Zebryk RE development

John:

Thanks for the message.

I agree with your assessment.

John Hine is the Selectboard's representative to CPAC and I will pass your comments on to him, especially in case he had not seen the Business West story, which is on-line at http://www.businesswest.com/details.asp?id=2083. However, I have attended several meetings, which have been some of the best governmental meetings I have ever attended. You can see more at http://www.vhb.com/southhadley/.

I'm happy to be a "sounding board" and I'm happy to keep you posted on S. Hadley! We need the perspective of people like you, who remember the town from the 1940's. Maybe we can improve the town without losing all that was special then.

You already know about South Hadley History at http://southhadleyhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com but I also post some other town material at My Selectboard page at http://bobjudgeselectboard.blogspot.com.

It's starting to warm up here now, finally, but I'm sure it is much warmer in Florida!

- Bob


From: John Zebryk [mailto:jhnzebryk@comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 2:08 PM
To: BobJudge@comcast.net
Cc: Bill Cary
Subject: SH Master Plan

Bob,

Recently received the July 6 issue of Business West and liked the piece on SH and it's Master Plan efforts.

Such an effort has been long overdue. Was pleased to note that the Falls is recognized as the weakest link in the economic picture and that it also offers the greatest potential for positive new growth and improvement. Riverfront location alone offers huge opportunities.

The residential historic character of the town, and its college, is one of its greatest strengths. I would not get too carried away by the Chamber of Commerce types who may wish it to become a commercial Mecca. Many communities have upgraded their residential base and have been able support their infrastructure from that base primarily. I would model on Longmeadow, Wilbraham , Amherst, and Belchertown? Agawam is pulling itself apart a little by trying to decide how much business and industry it can absorb while still maintaining a rural residential character?

I shall look forward to the CPAC's report and all subsequent developments.

Thank you for allowing me to use you somewhat as a sounding board. Are you on the CPAC committee by chance?

Best personal regards,


John R. Zebryk

"Former farm eyed for building site" - Click here

Former Michael's Market building razed after South Hadley officials intervene

Former Michael's Market building razed after South Hadley officials intervene

by The Republican Newsroom

Friday January 09, 2009, 5:00 PM

Photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanCrews from Curran Construction take down the former Michael's Market on Main Street in South Hadley Friday.

By SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE
sconstantine@repub.com

SOUTH HADLEY - The long-vacant brick building at Main and Bridge streets that housed the former Michael's Market is being razed after an intervention by town officials concerned about its dilapidated state.

"We did not order them to tear it down; it did not come to that," said Building Commissioner Steven Reno on Thursday.

He and Fire District 1 Fire Chief William J. Judd spoke with officials at Dinn Brothers about the condition of the structure, which is owned by C+K II, a corporation listed as doing business at 318 Lewis Wharf, Boston, and owned by Carol Robinson and Kathleen A. Dinn.

Judd said the building is a hazard to the public because the air conditioning-heating unit is starting to fall through the roof, causing the west wall of the brick structure to bulge. The building is being taken down by James A. Curran General Contractors Inc. of Holyoke.

Paul J. Dinn, president of Dinn Brothers Trophies & Plaques, and a relative of Kathleen Dinn, declined on Friday to speak about the building or his family's plans for the site.

"We don't have a comment right now," he said.

The property is in a section of the Falls neighborhood targeted for redevelopment.

"As I understand it, it has been an eyesore; if the property is redeveloped, that would be even better," said interim Town Administrator Barry L. Del Castilho of the demolition.

The property is assessed at $209,000, with $166,500 of it being for the building.

Records in the assessors' office show that the corporation bought the property on April, 6, 1999, for $1 from Peter C. Connor. He had acquired it on Jan. 26, 1998, from Michael P. Murdza for $45,000.

Murdza purchased the property from George C. Sexton Jr. on May 29, 1992, for $123,000.

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Texon Building rehab project in South Hadley delayed by lack of financing

Texon Building rehab project in South Hadley delayed by lack of financing
Sunday, December 28, 2008
By SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE
sconstantine@repub.com

SOUTH HADLEY - The developer hoping to rehabilitate the former Texon Building into a $10 million retail complex with housing units says the project will be delayed at least a year because of the difficulty in securing financing in the current national economic climate.
"We are working on it, but the overall situation regarding funding real estate projects right now is very, very difficult because of the crisis we are going through," developer Herbert Berezin, of Longmeadow, said recently.

Because of the economic crisis, Berezin said many banks have stopped lending money for such projects.
He is hopeful of putting together public and private funding to convert the first two floors of the former mill building along the Connecticut River in the Falls section into space for such concerns as shops, offices, galleries, a restaurant and a health club.

The rest of the brick, 19th century building would be used as housing for people 55 and older. He hopes to create 65 to 75 units of housing consisting of studio and one-bedroom units.
"It is a huge building and it is in deplorable condition," Berezin said. "There are a whole host of problems that will have to be dealt with."

One of the difficulties is securing enough parking, he said. To that end, Berezin said he is negotiating with Northeast Utilities, which owns some of the parking area near the structure.

He noted that the project will require multiple approvals from various government agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the town's Historical Commission.

Berezin has done a number of projects rehabilitating old mill buildings such as the Brassworks in Williamsburg, Leeds Village Apartments in Northampton and Sargeant Arms Apartments in Holyoke.
He is currently working on projects in the former Ampad Building in Holyoke and the Arts and Industry Building in Northampton.

"If it were to come to fruition it would set the tone for revitalization in the Falls," Selectboard Chairwoman Carlene C. Hamlin said of Berezin's project.

The building is held by the Holyoke Gas & Electric Department, which also owns the nearby Holyoke dam. As one of the conditions of the dam license the Holyoke utility has with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is that the building either be redeveloped or demolish.

The selectboard has agreed to allow razing of the dilapidated mill building to be put off until November 2011 as long as a new owner takes title to it by June 30, 2011.

Meanwhile, the Holyoke utility is expected to complete the Lower Riverside Park and a park near the dam gate house at the site by December 2009.