Crews tear down IDG building in Peterborough
The wall facing Elm Street was the final remant of the motel area to be razed. STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN
The north face of the IDG building was demolished within two hours of work commencing. STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN
Debris will begin to get hauled away Thursday. STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN
Cedar trees outside the stone facade were cut before work began. STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN
Crews from the Mathewson Companies begin with heavy machinery following tree removal. STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN
An excavator starts to topple the Elm Street wall of the IDG Building. —STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN
Razing of the IDG Building began at the west end facing Elm Street. STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN
| Published: 11-21-2024 11:02 AM |
The razing of the IDG building in Peterborough began Wednesday morning with the sound of a chainsaw.
Crews from Mathewson Companies of Hancock removed cedar trees on the Elm Street side of the site, then began work on the ground-level motel portion of the building with heavy machinery.
“Thing are going pretty smoothly,” said site supervisor P.J. Pickard of Mathewson as excavators tackled walls and debris. “Pretty much as expected.”
Asked about dust that was in the air as a result of the work, Pickard said that all abatements on the property were complete and that asbestos was not a danger.
“We’ll be separating debris before it’s removed, as landfills want it all separated, the wiring, and the scrap metal for instance,” Pickard said.
The ground-floor motel section of the building was largely debris before noon Wednesday, when an excavator toppled a wall of stone facing Elm Street.
“That stone has mortar in it and will get recycled as crushed stone,” Pickard said.
Melissa Stephenson of Peterborough recalled working in the building in the 1990s.
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“It was still a motel then, and somewhere along the way there was a walk-up ice cream stand operating out of the western most window for at least a summer if not more,” Stephenson said.
The building also housed publishing concerns as well as operations that offered food and drink.
Carl Querfurth of Jaffrey grew up in Peterborough, and on the day the razing of the building began, he recalled working there.
”I was a dishwasher in the restaurant there one summer,” he said. “As I recall, it was a pretty busy restaurant.”
Pickard said the razing and removal process is expected to stretch into December.
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