BEVERLY — City officials called off the fire watch at the Press Box yesterday and said the rooming house can remain open after the owner met today's deadline to repair electrical problems that could have caused a potentially deadly fire.
Steve Frederickson, the city's building commissioner, said the electrical deficiencies have been fixed, an unauthorized printing business has been removed from the basement, and the proper fire-stopping has been installed to prevent the spread of fire.
"It's as safe as we can expect without having X-ray vision," he said.
Last week, Frederickson ordered Press Box owner Baylus Baum to fix the building or close by today. A firefighter had been stationed at the building at Baum's expense since the city's electrical inspector discovered exposed wiring and other safety issues on Nov. 21.
The Press Box is on Park Street across from the train depot and includes a large barroom on the first floor and 30 single-occupancy rooms on the top floors. The bar's license was suspended for six days by the city's Licensing Board last month after police said they've responded to 122 calls there this year.
Tonight, Press Box management will meet with residents of the nearby Depot Square condominiums to discuss the recent problems, said Michelle McGilloway, one of the Press Box managers. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Beverly Public Library and is open to the public.
"We'd like to meet with them to discuss a couple of concerns they've brought up so we can work at being better neighbors," McGilloway said.
McGilloway said the Press Box had put off repairs to the building because the MBTA was considering taking their land by eminent domain to build a parking garage. The MBTA has since abandoned that plan and is looking at other sites for the garage.
"We would've done smaller stuff all along if we didn't think we were going to be bulldozed," she said.
McGilloway said the Press Box has made about $20,000 in repairs in the last week and will spend up to $50,000 this month before they're done. The fire watch ordered by the city cost the Press Box about $10,000, she said.
"We've rewired five total floors, reconstructed all of the ceilings, put in new lighting," she said. "Everything they've asked us to do we've just about completed, and they're still working."
The Press Box was due to start serving its license suspension last Friday, but McGilloway said the suspension has been appealed to the state and the bar remains open.
McGilloway said Baum will probably sell the building as the area around Rantoul Street continues to change. City officials and developers have touted the area as ideal for new condos and shops due to its proximity to the train station. The upscale Depot Square condos opened across the street from the Press Box early last year.
"Eventually, there probably won't be room for a place like us," McGilloway said. "In the meantime, we certainly want to have an attractive building, a safe building. The better it looks and the more it's functioning, the more appealing it is to a potential buyer."
