Construction at 300 Washington To Take Two More Weeks; Small Amounts of Asbestos Found

It will take at least two weeks to partially demolish 300 Washington St., the five-story building that was 

On Monday, , the building was deemed an "imminent hazard" by the city's health officer Frank Sasso. 

A Feb. 21 asbestos report, which was completed after the fire, showed that some asbestos was discovered in the building. Chrysotile, a common form of asbestos, was found in the fourth and fifth floor window caulk. According to the report, the percentage of asbestos found in those two places was about 2 percent, which is above the limit that is recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

No asbestos was found on the lower floors, according to the report in the city's construction office. 

The cause of the fire hadn't been released yet as of Thursday afternoon and a fire report from the incident was not yet available. 

The building was compiled of two businesses on the first floor—a grocery and a jewelry store—and eight condo apartments (two per floor). 

Much of the building was made of wood, including walls, floors and the roof. 

Most of the damage, according to city records, occured on the higher floors. The roof was completely demolished and is unsalvagable as are at least three of the building's eight condos, according to the report. The roof collapsed onto the fifth floor and the stairs to the roof were also destroyed. 

On the lower floors the apartments sustained major damage—in particular ceilings and kitchens suffered in the fire—but may be salvagable, according to the report. 

After the partial demolition, a new engineering analysis will be completed to determine the structural stability and overall safety of the remaining portions of the building, according to city press release. 

The last time a construction permit was issued for the building was in June, 2011, when T-Mobile installed antennas for a wireless connection on the roof of the building, according to records in the construction office. A zoning permit and approval from the historic preservation commission was granted for this project. Earlier, Omnipoint communications tried to install the antennas, but was denied a permit in April 2009. 

"The scope of work to be performed involves the manual removal of severely fire damaged portions of the building," said Juan Melli in an update sent out on Thursday afternoon. 

According to the city's update, "it is difficult to estimate the timeline for completion of this work since it is dependent on weather conditions and the uncertainty of conditions as the manual removal of debris proceeds. At a minimum, this work will take at least two weeks and could be considerably longer."

Washinton Street is still blocked off——but the city may open parts of the streets if it doesn't interfere with public safety, according to the update.