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The fencing surrounding the former house at Irwin Park is expected to come down this month, Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the Board of Selectmen during a regular meeting held last week at Town Hall.
Mann said the town received revised disposal pricing for the remediation work on Tuesday morning, which starts the clock on a final three week process to complete the project.
“Three weeks from now you should be taking down the fencing,” he said at the July 7 selectmen meeting.
The Irwin House site has been fenced off for longer than originally anticipated, the result of a series of delays from the discovery of an unexpected underground storage tank on the property.
The tank, the third found at the site, was undocumented and went unknown until demolition of Irwin House and its garage got underway last year. It was believed to be connected to a former bomb shelter on the Weed Street property.
Bad weather earlier this year also contributed to the delays, Mann said.
“And then this additional tank caused us a little bit of concern,” he said. “We made a point of seeking out the best pricing for disposing, and so that pushed the time out. It was being prudent on our part to be the most cost effective.”
The town approved a $700,000 contract for the demolition of Irwin House in September, with the structure largely demolished by Christmas. The brick house, built between 1961 and 1963, stood on property once owned by IBM founder Thomas Watson Sr.
Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll asked about the status of the project during a general update from Mann on Public Works activity in town.
Mann said the disposal pricing that came through Tuesday morning was good and that work can now move forward on to the final phase.
The History Trail installed at Irwin Park this month for the America 250 celebration runs along the park’s loop, separate from the former house site that had the fencing.