Business & Tech

VIDEO: Former Hansbury Building is Torn Down

The former retail store at Hansbury Lumberyard that sat along Willow Street in Hamilton was torn down on Thursday.

The main building at the former Hansbury lumberyard was torn down on Thursday by the property’s new owner, who says he’s still undecided about the future of the site.

The building at 281 Willow St. was on the ground by 2 p.m. as a backhoe from Bennett Contracting of Georgetown worked to move the debris from the lot.

Bunky’s Realty of Danvers . Since buying it, Bunky’s President Jeff Bunk said he has cleaned up the property, removing debris and trimmed brush. After the purchase, he said he had no immediate redevelopment plans.

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Hamilton Planning Coordinator Marcie Ricker said Thursday that no plans for the property have been submitted to town officials.

Bunk said on Thursday – while standing alongside Willow Street as the building was coming down – that the demolition did not signal that he was moving forward with any specific plans for the property right now. Instead he said it would require $100,000 or more to rehabilitate the former lumberyard retail building and it would not be part of any redevelopment plan. He still has not decided on his long term plans for the property.

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“I think the town is so sick of looking at it,” Bunk told Patch in April. “It can only get better.”

The two-story, woodframe building was 60 feet by 80 feet with close to 2,000 square feet of space, according to Hamilton assessor records. It was built in 1800.

Bunk said the building torn down on Thursday was not in danger of collapsing. A low metal overhang on the south side of the building that collapsed under the weight of snow last winter was removed in April. A separate building that consists of a row garages at the rear of the property remains.

Last fall, the property was at the – and later at Town Meeting. Voters in hopes of spurring redevelopment of the site, which has been unused for several years.

Among the additional uses that would be allowed with a special permit from the Planning Board includes a mix of residential and commercial uses, retail space or restaurants or multi-family residential uses.


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