Demolition Begins On Burned-Out Manchester Building

Scene Behind Demo Site Friday (Jesse Leavenworth/The Hartford Courant / October 18, 2013)

7:22 p.m. EDT, October 18, 2013

MANCHESTER Demolition of a burned out Main Street building began on Friday evening and is expected to be finished on Saturday.

Workers were scheduled to start razing 801-809 Main St. early on Friday, but the contractor did not have the necessary higher level demolition license, town officials said. BriCo Environmental Services Solutions had to bring in a subcontractor with the right equipment and credentialed personnel, officials said.

Fire Chief Robert Bycholski said the subcontractor stopped work on Friday night and planned to finish the job on Saturday. He said the demolition and debris removal may affect traffic on Main Street at times.

The fire broke out on Oct. 12 and destroyed the 1905 building, which housed two businesses and eight residents in a rooming house. The fire was not considered suspicious, but no cause has been found, fire officials said on Friday.

Residents in an adjacent building also have been displaced until demolition is complete.

The property owner has agreed to fund police security at the scene until the tear-down is finished, he wrote in a news release.

Jesse Leavenworth

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Demolition Begins On Burned-Out Manchester Building