Old railway car barn may get wrecking ball

Mayor says vacant, deteriorating building could be razed for redevelopment

WOONSOCKET — A safety fence has gone up around it and it may not be long before an old city landmark – the Social Street Car Barn – meets the wrecking ball.

After years of being vacant and suffering deterioration prompting fire department concern, the owners of the long, brick structure between Bellingham Street and the corner of Social and Diamond Hill roads are considering razing it to open the door to redevelopment of the approximate 1.5 acre site, according to Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt.

The mayor’s administration has been working with the owner of the parcel, Marc Mann, on a redevelopment plan that includes a study of any environment issues in the old structure such as asbestos and other hazardous materials such as oil in underground tanks.

“What is happening is that they are doing an asbestos review to see if anything needs to be done for potential removal,” the mayor said.

Completion of the site study could be the first step toward the owner proceeding to obtain a demolition permit from the city to have the long brick structure demolished and the site cleared, she said.

The Car Barn was once an overnight storage facility for the electric street cars that were operated on city streets by the Woonsocket Street Railroad Co., a key mode of transportation for city millworkers around the turn of the century. The street rail system had been developed in the city initially with horse-drawn trolley cars but then moved into an

electrified trolley system as the street rails were expanded into neighboring communities such as North Smithfield and Burrillville. There were other car barns in the city in addition to the Social Street and Diamond Hill Road structure with one being located at Park Square where the old Almacs supermarket was located and another on Cumberland Street at what is now the commercial property where Superior Marble and Granite countertops and Ravenous Brewing are located.

Some of the city’s streets include paved over sections of cobblestone roads and still have the Street Railroad tracks installed. Occasionally the old rails can be spied lying just below the pavement or become visible when potholes develop.

Although used a number of years ago as the headquarters of Replacement Auto Parts and to house an engine rebuilding company and other businesses, the Social Street and Diamond Hill Road car barn has been completely vacant more recently, according to its neighbors.

Ryan Coletta, an owner of Family Discount Furniture, 1081 Social St., across Diamond Hill Road from the car barn, said he hopes something better than the current structure will end up at the location. “I think it is an eyesore. You are coming into the city from Massachusetts right there,” Coletta said of the high traffic intersection.

The car barn has been vacant the two years Family Discount has operated in the former Stitcher’s Inc. building, he noted.

“If there was a good draw there, it would help. Obviously it would help everything in the city,” Coletta said.

Baldelli-Hunt said Mann has had the property on the market to sell and the parcel also includes the old home of JB Liquors, now located across Social Street, as a well as two residential buildings on a separate parcel. The car barn runs almost all the way to the intersection of Diamond Hill Road, Bellingham Street, and Wood Avenue, but there are two residential homes between it and Bellingham Street, according to Baldelli-Hunt.

The property was enclosed by a fence after site work to cut off utility lines was completed, according to the mayor.

“Eventually there will be a demo permit pulled and at some point the building will be razed,” she said. It is expected that the liquor store building and the two homes on the adjoining parcel near Social Street owned by Mann will also be razed, according to Baldell-Hunt. The building could be knocked down for a specific redevelopment proposal or be razed in advance of a reuse proposal being finalized, she noted.

The owner or an interested party would cover the cost of the site clearing work, Baldelli-Hunt said.

As for the condition of the car barn, Baldelli-Hunt said Fire Chief Paul Shatraw did have concerns about the deterioration of the structure inside and what risks local firefighters could encounter during an emergency. The chief had conversations with the owner on securing the building while a plan to address any safety issues was prepared, according to Baldelli-Hunt.

“The owner was cooperative and we are just moving toward a resolution to the situation,” she said.

As for what might eventually be located the corner of Social and Diamond Hill Road, Baldelli-Hunt said that is still be worked out.

There is interest in redevelopment of the property at this point but it remains to be seen if any proposal does move forward, she said.

“I had a brief conversation with an attorney about the property today but there is nothing definitive,” BaldelliHunt said. “There is no one more interested in sharing what is happening than me but when things are not finalized, it can be disappointing,” she said. “It is better to wait until things are a little further down the road,” the mayor added.