Work begins on former Bryant Grinder building

Work began Monday on removing asbestos and repairing sections of the roof of the former Bryant Grinder building just south of the Springfield Police Department at 257 Clinton St. to make the space usable for light industrial businesses.

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2016-04-12 / Front Page Work begins on former Bryant Grinder building By Cameron Paquette cameronp@eagletimes.com Work began Monday on the south end of the former Bryant Grinder building on Clinton Street in Springfield to remove asbestos and repair the roof of the building to make it usable for light industrial work by the end of the year. — CAMERON PAQUETTE Work began Monday on the south end of the former Bryant Grinder building on Clinton Street in Springfield to remove asbestos and repair the roof of the building to make it usable for light industrial work by the end of the year. — CAMERON PAQUETTE SPRINGFIELD — Work began Monday on removing asbestos and repairing sections of the roof of the former Bryant Grinder building just south of the Springfield Police Department at 257 Clinton St. to make the space usable for light industrial businesses. According to Bob Flint, executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corporation (SRDC), owners of the building, the goal is to have the southern portion of the building business-ready by the end of the year. "Hopefully by the end of the year we've got something we can work with," he said. SRDC received a $200,000 Environmental Protection Agency brownfields cleanup grant last year to rehabilitate the 160,000-square-foot property. According to Flint, a partial draft Corrective Action Plan has been completed and the first phase of asbestos abatement will be carried out by Massachusetts-based Dec-Tam starting at the south end of the building. Built in 1909, the business manufactured grinder machines until it closed the Clinton Street location in 2000. SRDC has submitted a proposal to the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation to address long-term plans for the property, including the removal of roughly half the current facility, resulting in three separate buildings. Flint estimates that the three buildings could have a combined area of 90,000 square feet that will be "adaptable for light industrial" work. "For Springfield, the problem isn't finding businesses to inhabit the buildings, it's getting the buildings into a condition to get businesses [into them]," said Flint. Although the proposal is currently under review, permission has been granted by the Division of Historic Preservation to carry out demolition work within the building to "keep the good part of the building safe from a potential roof collapse in the bad part." Because the north and south ends of the building are currently in the best condition, The Melanson Company, which was awarded the contract, will begin replacing the roof in those sections and will synchronize its work with the asbestos work that Dec-Tam is undertaking. Work began Monday on the south end of the former Bryant Grinder building on Clinton Street in Springfield to remove asbestos and repair the roof of the building to make it usable for light industrial work by the end of the year. — CAMERON PAQUETTE Work began Monday on the south end of the former Bryant Grinder building on Clinton Street in Springfield to remove asbestos and repair the roof of the building to make it usable for light industrial work by the end of the year. — CAMERON PAQUETTE The north end of the building is currently being rented for storage by Imerys Talc, a mining company with a branch in Ludlow, Vermont. Flint anticipates that the northern portion could be finished shortly after the southern end, with the middle portion taking the longest to complete due to a disconnection between the roof drains and the town's stormwater system, which resulted in "a significant amount of structural damage to a large portion of the middle parts of the building." SRDC is working to assess more involved contamination areas in the building. According to Flint, SRDC is expecting to invest around $500,000 into the building between now and Labor Day, with most of the investment to be focused in the 35,000-square-foot south end of the structure to make it available for redevelopment and reuse. "We're kicking the tires with a couple prospects right now," said Flint. "We need to fill [the buildings] with businesses that bring value-added jobs." Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell said he trusts that SRDC will get the job done and find a "productive and appropriate" business to use the space. "There is a demand for industrial commercial space," Yennerell said. "Once the repairs are made and it's usable, I'm sure there will be demand."