Building inspector warns Athol’s 1930 structure faces winter risks

ATHOL – At its meeting on Tuesday, Building Inspector Bob Legare updated the Select Board on the findings of the most recent inspection of 465 Main St.

Town officials are looking at the possible demolition of the long-vacant 1930 structure. Legare joined the board’s July 21 meeting shortly after it began.

“I just got out of the building with the structural engineer a few minutes ago,” he said. “It stopped raining outside. Unfortunately, it’s still raining pretty good inside the building. I asked (engineer Peter Reynolds) if he could kind of give us some guidelines on how long we have before that building starts coming apart. I got the answer I thought we would get, which is that he doesn’t have a crystal ball.

“I told him I’m really concerned because I don’t think it could get through a winter and have a couple feet of snow up there, and he said he didn’t know if could handle a couple of inches of snow,” Legare said.

“If the front wall comes down,” said Board Chair Bill Chiasson, “I’m afraid it’s going to come down on Main Street. There aren’t many other places for it to go. So, we have to very careful with that.”

Legare said that he had spoken with a contractor, but an estimate is still in the works. Among the options they dicsused was gutting the front half of the building. Legare added that Reynolds said he would consider a partial removal but mentioned the potential instability of the remaining structure and was concerned about the possible impact of such a project on the adjacent buildings.

Legare noted that some people have expressed a desire to save what they consider the building’s historic facade.

“I don’t blame them; it’s beautiful, but I think the only way that could be done is taking it apart brick-by-brick in the front, or demo from the back, which means the bowling alley would have to be gone, and try to support that wall,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to spend taxpayer money that you might not get a return on to try and save that facade.”

Board member Mitch Groskey asked if their might be grants for buildings that might be in danger of collapse, and both Legare and Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said they are unaware of any.

“We have a court order, so we could take it down,” said Suhoski. “We’ve applied for a grant regarding the old bowling alley, but we own it, we have site control. But I’ll look into that.”

At the board’s meeting on July 7, Suhoski indicated town monies will likely be needed for any work on the building. He added town officials have been working on ideas on how to pay for the work, including the possibility of borrowing the funds. The town currently has about $500,000 in the FY27 budget’s demolition account, but Suhoski said that is unlikely to cover the cost.

The Selectboard asked Legare to see if he could come up with some estimates on the cost of demolition and partial demolition and report back to the board at its meeting on Aug.18. Once the figures are presented, members will have a better idea of how much funding is needed and weigh the best options for securing it.

In his June 17 order, Judge Timothy Sullivan of the state’s Housing Court Central Division wrote that Jonathan Eldridge, the owner of 465 Main St., remains in contempt of the court’s orders, dated on Jan. 15, 2025 and April 29, 2026, and that the property is a public nuisance.

Sullivan also ordered Eldridge to pay the town $50,000 for failing to address ongoing code violations and an additional $2,000 to compensate the town for bringing this legal action.

Attempts to reach Eldridge for comment have been unsuccessful.

Sullivan’s decision allowed the town, through its Board of Health, to enter the premises and attempt to abate the violations, or, if the Health Department determines in writing that demolition is necessary, proceed with that option. A receiver may also be appointed, should the town determine that demolition isn’t needed.