Uniroyal site moving ahead

By Holly Angelou

06/01/2009- The Republican

CHICOPEE - MassDevelopment has signed a contract with the city to oversee the demolition of six buildings at the former Uniroyal industrial site off Grove Street.

The state's quasi-public finance and development authority recently signed a memorandum of agreement to be paid up to $200,000 for services on an as-needed basis. MassDevelopment has hired GZA Environmental, of Norwood, to create design documents so the city can go out to bid for a demolition firm. A project manager from MassDevelopment will oversee the work.

"We'll manage the demolition of Buildings 1-6 at the Uniroyal site," said Adam M. Bickelman, spokesman for MassDevelopment, on Friday.
The city can finally move forward on the demolition and environmental cleanup of the Uniroyal and Facemate sites, located adjacent to each other in the Chicopee Falls section of the city. After years of legal wrangling, a Hampden Superior Court judge in April ruled in favor of the city against the bankrupt Facemate Corp., ordering the company to pay the city $1.5 million. The ruling allowed the city to obtain ownership of the properties so it can move forward on redeveloping the sites.

Uniroyal closed its tire plant in 1980 and Facemate purchased the property in 1981, but filed for bankruptcy in 2003. The city has estimated it will cost in excess of $20 million for the environmental cleanup and demolition of buildings on the properties. Uniroyal has 16 buildings, while Facemate includes seven.

"They'll assess each of the buildings and prepare specifications for demolition," Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said of MassDevelopment's role. "The city doesn't have in-house expertise."

Bickelman said the city should go out to bid in July and the demolition of the six buildings should be completed by Thanksgiving.

Bissonnette said MassDevelopment is being paid with federal Community Development Block Grant money. The city has $1.2 million in block grant funds set aside for the project and is applying for state and federal funding to pay for the cleanup and demolition.

"We'll do demolition when funds become available," Bissonnette said.

He called the contract with MassDevelopment a "critical first step."

"MassDevelopment has the expertise and it also creates a partnership," Bissonnette said.

MassDevelopment oversaw the demolition of the York Street Jail in Springfield.