BEVERLY — In another sign of movement on the waterfront, the city plans to sell or demolish its marina management building to make way for long-needed repairs to the area.
Mayor Bill Scanlon said he will ask the City Council tonight to declare the building surplus so it can be sold. Scanlon said it will be sold on the condition that the buyer moves the building. Otherwise, it will be demolished.
The building needs to be removed so the city can begin repairs to the seawall and apron on the waterfront, funded by a $2.5 million state grant that was announced last month.
"We're ready to invest that money to make those improvements," Scanlon said. "That building has to be out of the way in order to do that during the winter, so we can be ready for next summer's boating season."
The marina management building is the big brown one that sits on pilings in the water behind the former McDonald's restaurant. It has been the office, as well as the residence, of Lou Bochynski, who oversaw the city's two marinas and paid rent to live in the building until his retirement last month.
Scanlon said Bochynski is still working part time for the city through the boating season.
Scanlon declined to say how much the building might fetch in a sale.
"We're going to find out," he said. "It's an interesting building. It can be picked up the way it's built. If it doesn't work out, we'll have to destroy the building."
The repairs to the seawall and apron are part of a larger plan for the waterfront that includes the building of a Black Cow restaurant and improvements to the city's pier and marinas.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or pleighton@salemnews.com.
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