Published: January 14, 2008 The Eagle Tribune
Fire ravages Lawrence landmark
Mark E. Vogler
LAWRENCE | A fast-moving fire last night destroyed a 141-year-old abandoned building that served as a center of community activities in the city's Arlington Neighborhood for more than a century.
It took only 15 minutes for the fire to escalate into a four-alarm blaze at Turn Hall.
But it was more than five hours before Lawrence fire officials began releasing six out-of-town fire departments that responded to 42-44 Park St. Units from Andover, Haverhill, Lowell, Methuen, North Andover and Salem, N.H., were called in to help city firefighters battle a fire that forced the evacuation of several nearby three-decker apartments on Bruce Street. There were no reports of injuries.
"It's one of the biggest fires I've seen since Malden Mills," Lawrence Police Department Auxiliary Chief Jay Jackson said. His volunteer department is used for crowd control at fires, major accidents and crime scenes.
"Upon arrival to the building, the fire was escalating in such a rapid fashion that we realized it was going to engulf the entire building, so we called in all 28 auxiliary officers. We had to close down a 22-block area to traffic in the Park Street-Arlington Neighborhood," Jackson said.
The source and cause of the fire, which broke out shortly after 6 p.m., is still under investigation. "Our biggest challenge we're having right now is the flying embers," said Deputy Fire Chief Jack Bergeron, as he pointed to ashes floating above the rooftops of apartment buildings considered at risk to a fire that ravaged the large, 2<1/2>-story brick and wood-frame building near the intersection of Park and Bruce streets.
The American Red Cross of the Merrimack Valley was poised to open a temporary overnight shelter for the dozens of people evacuated from their homes.
But the residents were allowed to return to their homes late last night as Lawrence firefighters maintained an overnight watch.
Marlene Louis-Gilles, 35, of 46 Park St., left her house next door to spend the night with family members.
"I just got home a few minutes ago and can't believe what I'm seeing," said Louis-Gilles, who arrived to a wild scene of firefighters and firetrucks in front of her house and dozens of spectators from the neighborhood.
"I didn't expect this to happen. Somebody just bought this building a few weeks ago and was going to make a church out of it," she said. The owner's name was not available last night.
Fire officials have been concerned about the building posing a potential hazard to the neighborhood for several years. The department had a special red-and-white marking placed on the front of the building, designating it as unsafe.
City officials have been taking precautions to keep the building locked, but homeless people have taken up quarters inside for several years.
Hector Cid, who lives on the third floor of 45 Park St., across the street from Turn Hall, said he wasn't surprised to look out his window last night and see the building burning.
"I've called the city several times about problems over there," he said, noting that people have easy access to the building. Fire Departments from Dracut, Middleton and North Reading helped cover the Lawrence stations while city firefighters were tied up with last night's blaze. Bergeron, a 31-year veteran of the Lawrence department, said Turn Hall has been a fire safety concern for much of his career. The building served as a church and at one time was occupied by Turn Verein, a German athletic and social club, during the 1960s and 1970s. Firefighters complained about low water pressure during much of the night, a problem that was aggravated by the building's large size. On the basement level, there was once a bowling alley. That area was filled with junk left behind by former owners. The first floor was used mostly for a gymnasium, complete with a parquet floor and basketball backboards. There was once a bar in the building.
Staff Writer Bill Kirk contributed to this report.
Published: January 16, 2008 12:00 am Teens with lighter caused fire at Turn Hall
By Zach Church and Bill Kirk , Staff writers Eagle-Tribune
LAWRENCE - Investigators have ruled out arson as the cause of a fire at Turn Hall, instead saying teenagers playing with a lighter accidentally ignited the blaze that gutted the cavernous, 141-year-old building.
The four boys range in age from 13 to 15 and are students at one of the city's middle schools, police Chief John Romero said yesterday.
Meanwhile, ownership of the Park Street building appears to be muddled leaving the fate of the property uncertain.
The boys were questioned by police after a schoolyard argument over who had caused the fire Sunday night, and school administrators turned the boys over to police and fire investigators.
"These are not bad kids," fire chief Peter Takvorian said. "It was mischievous."
"It was kids being kids," he said. "We have a source of ignition, cause and origin."
Romero said the boys had been in the building before and were there again Sunday, playing with a lighter one had brought from home.
"They had lit up some newspapers and some other stuff, some toilet paper, and were horsing around," Romero said. "They thought they had put it all out."
"They were in there looking for spirits and ghosts, as kids will do in an abandoned house," Romero said. Police and firefighters will discuss the blaze with prosecutors, but do not know yet if the boys will face criminal charges.
Fire investigators are now certain the four-alarm blaze, which gutted the 21/2 story brick building, was not the result of arson, Takvorian said.
The large brick building at 42-44 Park St., once a social club and athletic club and more recently a church, is under fire watch until a decision can be made on whether to tear it down. Takvorian thinks demolition will be necessary.
Most distressing though, Takvorian said, is knowing that the blaze could have been avoided if the building had been properly boarded up.
"If these kids couldn't get in there, that wouldn't have happened," he said. There are about 250 abandoned buildings in the city and firefighters will be making sure they are properly secured, Takvorian said, pledging prosecution of lazy landowners.
But who owns Turn Hall is uncertain right now. For years, the property has been caught in a crossfire of competing real estate interests.
Going back as far as June 2002, Mental Health Resources Plus Inc., of Lawrence, which operates housing for people with mental disabilities, had an agreement to buy the property from the owners, the Society for the Latin Mass. The local social services group had hoped to erect housing for their clients, but those plans were dropped after Lowell developer Christopher Cox sought approval for his own project on the site - 24 condominiums along with low-income housing.
However, Cox's project was rejected by the Planning Board in May 2003 after then-City Councilor Michael Sweeney challenged whether Cox actually owned the property. City Councilor Patrick Blanchette also challenged the project, saying Cox was putting too many units on the 1.4-acre site. Cox could not be reached for comment on this story, but said during the May 2003 hearing that he did own the site.
More recently, Jay Berglund, a developer from Groton, Mass., secured approval from the Planning Board last summer to raze the building and erect 12, single-family detached condos on the site. City Planner Michael Sweeney said Berglund was given approval for his project in July 2007. But it's unclear whether Berglund ever owned the property.
According to the Northern Essex County Registry of Deeds, the property was sold in the past month to Christian Methodist Realty Trust, a local group that intends to build a church on the site, according to Dan McCarthy of the Lawrence Planning Department.
McCarthy said he found out about those plans last week from a local attorney representing a builder doing work for the church.
Berglund said he plans on challenging the sale of the property to the church organization.
"I'm interested in putting condos on that site after the fire investigation is over," he said.
Hector Mateo, listed by the Registry of Deeds as being with Christian Methodist Realty Trust, could not be reached for comment.
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