BEVERLY — For 25 years, the building at the corner of Rantoul and Elliott streets stood as a reminder of one of the worst moments in the city's history.
Yesterday morning, it took one man in an excavator about three hours to rip the building to shreds.
The demolition brought an end to the former Elliott Chambers rooming house, where 15 people died on July 4, 1984, in what is still the second-deadliest fire in Massachusetts history.
As the notorious building fell to the ground in a heap of cracking wood and screeching metal, a handful of passers-by stopped to watch.
"I just had to see this old place come down," said Dave Duchesne, who lives nearby on Elliott Street. "It's just going to be different not seeing the building there. Strange, I guess."
Workers razed the building to make way for a CVS/pharmacy that will be built on the site. They also knocked down a larger building next door and will soon demolish the former CVS plaza on the other side.
The 1984 Elliott Chambers fire killed 15 people, including a 9-year-old boy who was visiting his grandmother. Many of the residents were people on the fringe of society who rented a single room for $40 a week.
James Carver of Ipswich was convicted of setting the fire in retaliation against a resident who was dating his former girlfriend. Carver is serving back-to-back life sentences for arson and second-degree murder.
The fire, the second-worst in state history behind the 1942 Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston that killed 492, led to a state law that allows communities to require automatic sprinklers in rooming houses with six or more people.
The building had been home to various businesses since the fire but had been empty for the last year. To many people, the unremarkable two-story structure (a third floor was destroyed in the fire) was just an eyesore at one of the city's busiest intersections.
Some of the people watching yesterday's demolition were unaware of the building's history. One man knew it as the former home of the Curious Creatures pet store.
One person who did know the history was James Maroney. The Beverly resident is co-producing a documentary on the fire along with City Councilor John Burke. Maroney was on the scene with his camera to record the building's final moments.
"It was emotional to drive by it all these years," Maroney said. "It was a sense of relief to see the building go down. It should've gone down years ago. All I could do was just think of the people that were in there, trapped."
Burke and Beverly resident Amanda Mazzaglia have formed a foundation to raise money for a memorial to the fire victims. CVS has agreed to allow a memorial marker on the property.
The new CVS is scheduled to open in January.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
