Reading Schoolhouse Condos To Reopen Nearly 3 Years After Fire

READING, MA — Nearly three years after a seven-alarm fire caused "substantial" damage to the Schoolhouse Condominiums, the complex is set to reopen. Trustees told the Daily Times Chronicle they are aiming to reopen during the first quarter of 2020 as the rebuilding process continues.

The fire on June 1, 2017 was one of the largest in Reading's history and the first time since the 1950s the Boston Fire Department was called to assist. The effort to bring the blaze under control included emergency crews from 15 other cities and towns, who battled the fire for about 12 hours in windy conditions.

Sixty residents from the building's 41 units were displaced. The condos opened 28 years ago in the former Reading High School building on Sanborn Street. Many of the units are lived in by their original owners, about half of whom are retirees, the Chronicle reported.