Demolition of vacant cotton mill resumes

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has given the green light to a Falls River, Massachusetts, developer to resume demolition of one of the buildings at a former cotton mill, a report by The Herald News says. Demolition work on King Philips Mill was halted in July after DEP inspectors found asbestos on the property.

The city and developer Robert Kfoury had conducted asbestos abatement before the demolition of the 200,000-square-foot building began, and Kfoury says in the report he hired a third consultant who inspected the building and found additional areas containing asbestos, including an area behind a paneled wall.

Kfoury, engineer and owner of RK Construction, says in the report that he can work outside for now and crews should return on-site Sept. 17 or 18. The unanticipated contamination added about $60,000 to the demolition costs.

The project will cost between $4 million to $8 million to construct 26 single-family market-rate homes along Cook Pond, the report says. The homes could be sold from $265,000 to $285,000.

According to the report, one of the four mill buildings will remain and Kfoury says in the report he could develop the structure into a mixed use building. A portion of the 750,000-square-foot property will be set aside as open space.

Demolition for this building is scheduled to be complete in the fall and Kfoury says in the report the next building slated for demolition is the largest.