Demolition has begun.
With a few swings of a wrecking ball the once great Newcomb will be reduced to a pile of bricks and memories. In the days since the fire, many people have been inquiring about saving the facade. At this point, that is unlikely. The first priority is to get this structure to where it is not a collapse risk. That is likely a 1-2 story building, but from the looks of the early demolition, probably 1. Yes, in other communities they have been able to keep a facade and put a building behind it but that doesn’t seem cost effective here. We would love to see that, but because of structural issues it is not feasible to do so.
The outpouring from the community has been overwhelmingly sad. Yes, there are always those who come down to gawk – especially on Friday night. We’ll have our share of those just watching the demolition until it is complete. However, there is a large majority of people who are genuinely saddened by the loss. Many wanted to see the building restored. We think we were close to helping make that happen. Unfortunately, that won’t happen. We will start working on the new plan soon, but for now getting the streets opened is our primary concern.
If you don’t know what a treasure we lost, I encourage you to watch this short YouTube video. This was the video from our Architectural Walking Tour that was developed by our talented intern Stephanie Schwartz in 2011. She researched the building and found the photos, and did an amazing job with all the stops. We want to continue to preserve Quincy’s rich history and amazing architecture, and this was a way that we wanted to bring a new generation to appreciate the gems we have here in Quincy. We hope you enjoy it.
– Travis Brown, Executive Director