BEVERLY — The city's building commissioner has ordered the Press Box rooming house to fix unsafe electrical wiring or vacate the building by Dec. 3.
In a letter sent on Monday, Steven Frederickson told rooming house owner Baylus Baum he could be fined up to $1,000 per day if he does not comply.
"Within 24 hours of the date of this notice, you must begin to make repairs," Frederickson wrote.
A lawyer for Baum said electricians started repairs yesterday and should be done within "a couple of days."
"I don't expect it's going to be a problem," attorney Marshall Handly said.
The Press Box has been under a city-mandated 24-hour fire detail since Friday, when the city's electrical inspector discovered faulty wiring that could cause a fire and crumbling ceilings that could allow the fire to spread quickly throughout the building.
Frederickson said the Press Box has the potential to turn into another Elliott Chambers, a 1984 fire at a rooming house on Elliott Street that killed 15 people. The Press Box rooming house, across the street from the train station, has about 30 tenants.
In the letter to Baum, Frederickson detailed numerous code violations, including exposed electrical wiring and wiring that has been installed without permits or inspections. The plaster ceilings above the suspended ceilings are filled with holes, which could allow fire to spread quickly.
Other violations include a fire ladder chained and padlocked in the closed position, a printing business in the cellar without proper permits, cracked concrete stairs, rotted window trim, and a deteriorated roof that needs to be replaced. All of those problems except for the roof must be fixed and pass inspection by Dec. 3, according to Frederickson's letters.
If the repairs are not made by the Dec. 3 deadline, Baum would be obliged by law to pay for alternative housing for his tenants, according to Robert Munroe, the city's assistant city solicitor.
"He can't just say, 'Hit the streets, we're closed,'" Munroe said at Monday night's City Council Legal Affairs Committee meeting.
Baum is being charged about $1,150 per day for a firefighter to stand watch in his building. Baum's lawyer, Handly, said he did not know how much the repairs will cost.
"It's a couple of days' work from a master electrician," Handly said. "It's not a bill I would be eager to pay, but I don't think it's going to break the bank."
The Press Box building, on Park Street, includes a first-floor barroom that has also been in trouble with the city. Two weeks ago, the Licensing Board suspended the bar's license for six days after police said they've responded to 122 calls there this year. The first day of the suspension is Friday.
Baum did not return a call seeking comment.
Code violations
Exposed electrical wiring
Improperly spliced wiring
Wiring installed without permits or inspections
Holes in plaster ceilings
Non-permitted printing business in cellar
Loose or missing balusters on stair guardrails
Fire escape ladder chained and padlocked in closed position
Hollow-core doors on dwelling units
Deteriorated roof in need of replacement
Rotting exterior window trim, in jeopardy of falling in one location
Cracked concrete stairs that are a tripping hazard
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