Tenants seek new homes after flood
Businesses forced to flee One Exchange Place
WORCESTER – The red brick buildings known as One Exchange Place, at the bottom of a slope off Main Street between Waldo and Commercial streets, has often been the go-to place for the city’s entertainment-seeking residents.
However, since a flooding in mid-August, the building remains vacated after its tenants, among them popular lounge Michael’s Cigar Bar and escape room Live Action Escapes, have not been able to return to the building to continue their business.
Michael Paquin, owner of Live Action Escapes, recounted how the failure of the building’s sump pump in the night of Aug. 18 allowed heavy rains to rise and flood the transformer vault.
Paquin said water levels rose up to 16 inches, and that repairs are thought to take months.
Paquin has run Live Action Escapes since 2016 with his daughters out of the historic Worcester location.
He said they will now reopen at 415 Main St., where they had originally planned their second location.
The new location will open Thursday, with five different escape rooms, smash lanes and a future 250-square-foot art gallery.
“We all received an eviction notice for 30 days to get out,” Paquin said, “while we were building a new location at 415 Main St.
“This business was funding our new location.
“It’s been stressful, it’s been it’s been painful, but we’re starting to see the light a little bit at the end of the tunnel.”
In a statement, the owner of Michael’s Cigar Bar, Mark Esperti, wrote they also vacated the first-floor space it held since 2009.
Esperti described similar circumstances as Paquin in his statement, describing how electrical issues made his establishment’s return impossible.
Since the closing, they held a clearance sale of cigars outside of their former establishment.
Esperti has been unable to reach despite several attempts.
Cigar bar in search of new site
“Reluctantly, we will be closing down and vacating this premise,” wrote Esperti in his statement. “We are in search of a new location in Worcester.
“Michael’s Cigar Bar is forever indebted and grateful to all of those who loyally stuck by us and enjoyed their last 14 years alongside us.”
Another tenant leaving the building was criminal defense and personal injury law office Aloise & Wilcox, P.C.
Since the flooding, the office has moved to 19 Cedar St., according to a statement.
Both Paquin and Esperti say the cluster of adjacent buildings at One Exchange Place, once home to the city’s police headquarters and the district court, could be renovated into apartment units in the next 12 to 18 months.
Previous plans of the owners, Ballybreen Ventures in Hingham, show intentions to renovate the building into 45 residential units, which, according to Paquin, included allowing the tenants to occupy the building for commercial use. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case since the flooding.
Attempts to reach the company have been unsuccessful.
“The situation sucks for everybody,” said Paquin. Dating to 1918, the buildings were home to both the Worcester Police Headquarters and Worcester District Court, the traces of which include the marble columns, staircase and cell bars often lauded for giving the establishments there their vintage character.
The building was last used for police business in 1980, two years after the Police Department relocated to its headquarters at 9-11 Lincoln Square.
A courtyard in the belly of the building was used by Michael’s Cigar Bar as additional space, often hosting local bands to play for its cigar-smoking patrons.
Other restaurants and bars throughout the years included People’s Kitchen, Citizen Wine Bar and Still & Stir.