GREENFIELD — The city is seeking approval for $85,000 in funding for the demolition of a Main Street property that has been condemned and deemed unsafe.
City Council had a first reading of a request of $85,000 from the city’s general stabilization fund to go toward the demolition of the former Lucky Nails Salon at 188 Main St. The building became a safety concern following issues with its foundation, which posed potential issues with the train tracks that run underneath it.
According to Greenfield Department of Public Works Engineering Superintendent Nicholas Reitzel III, the city has been looking to demolish the building for the last 15 years.
“The site was actually condemned a number of years ago for structural reasons,” Reitzel said. “It’s at a point where it’s uninhabitable.”
However, money for the Main Street building’s demolition was an issue, which Reitzel said is estimated to cost between $250,000 and $300,000.
Recently though, Reitzel said that the state and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation made an offer where “they would help us on partial funding on the rest of the project.”
MassDOT became involved after they and Amtrak came into control of railroad tracks that run underneath the site for a commuter rail. According to Reitzel, the city and MassDOT has been monitoring the site and concluded that “it is becoming more unstable as time goes, so it is a critical situation.”
The demolition, once funding is secured, is expected to go out for bid, so no specific plan is in place for how it will be done. However, two potential strategies could shut down traffic on the sidewalk in the area, and one could shut down the westbound lane of Main Street.
In addition, part of the project will include site remediation, which Reitzel said is due to asbestos in the building. However, he said that this was not out of the ordinary with buildings as old as 188 Main St.