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The dilapidated MBTA building at the corner of Avon and School Streets will be sold at auction on May 21. The opening bid will be $487,000 according to Alderman Bob McWatters. The owner of the abutting gas station, Adam Dash, is supposedly the most likely buyer. Presumably the property would be developed as luxury condos.

The building was originally an power converting station that provided 600 VDC for the #85 streetcar route. It still contains massive, deteriorated early 20th-century electrical transformers, and is therefore almost certainly heavily contaminated with PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl). PCB is an extremely toxic and persistent pollutant, similar to dioxin, and remediating it is notoriously difficult and expensive.

Numerous residents have expressed interest in a park at this location, including ex-Mayor Dorothy Gay, who lives directly across the street from it. However OSPCD director Michael Glavin told Alderman McWatters that the city has no interest in taking the property for a park, due to the prohibitive cost of remediating the contamination. Why a condo developer would knowingly undertake this cost is still unclear.

Somerville Development Watch
http://somervilledevelopmentwatch.org/