LEWISTON — City demolition crews will wait to take down the burned-out 44 Nichols St. property until they see what mortgage holder Bank of America does.
“They have 15 days to take action,” City Administrator Ed Barrett said. “If they don’t, we can step in and do it.”
Barrett said the city has consents to take down the buildings at 21 and 23 Howe St. that were burned in fires that same day, April 10.
“That means we can go ahead, start our process and get bids for the demolition,” Barrett said.
Police and fire officials say those fires and two others — at 135 Oxford St. and 48 Howe St. — were intentionally set.
The Nichols Street property was already on the city’s list of properties to be demolished. The property has been largely empty since 2009.
Councilors had scheduled a hearing to condemn the property at their meeting Tuesday, but moves by Bank of America to assert control of the property convinced the city to change tack and wait, rather than paying to remove the building.
“Our impression is that they intend to take it down now, and we expect they will be talking to people about bids on that project,” Barrett said. “But we won’t know until that time limit expires or they actually get started.
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- This building that burned on the corner of Holland and Nichols streets in Lewiston last week was supposed to be torn down by the city, but councilors agreed to wait to see whether mortgage holder Bank of America does the work.
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- Thi building that burned on the corner of Holland and Nichols Streets in Lewiston last week was supposed to be torn down, but the bank now says it could be saved.
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