I hate it when they reward slum lords. Instead of tearing it down they should restore the original front. Northeaster used the same excuse when they tore down the opera house. As far as the consulting firm they hired don't forget a consultant job is to draw rings around a bull's eye
Read the article - -it's not just the building:
"....After surveying the Matthews Arena lot, Haley & Aldrich reported concentrations of lead, asbestos and other toxic chemicals within the soil. In accordance with state laws regarding hazardous waste, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection released plans to completely uproot the parking lot bordering Gainsborough Street by removing 5,000 cubic yards of soil from the site.
The land that Matthews Arena sits on was once part of
Boston’s original wharf, with the west side existing as shoreline and the east bordering the ocean. Although it was replaced with man-made land in the
late 19th century as part of a larger effort to fill in the 200-year-old Mill Pond that once existed in what’s now Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood,
it left behind high concentrations of clay, which expands when wet and contracts when dry, and surface-level sand, which shifts easily and can be damaging to adjacent structures.
Deep under the lot, bedrock provides a sturdy base, but it has weathered over time, no longer up to its usual caliber. Furthermore,
row houses stood tall on that block, along the coast, in the mid-1800s. Their destruction left behind debris, including brick, glass, porcelain and chrysotile asbestos, prompting the need for a speedy removal today....."
huntnewsnu.com
www.bostonplans.org
