NORTH SMITHFIELD – It stood for more than 100 years, the last remaining vestige of a mill central to the town’s industrial past… and took less than a half hour to crumble to the ground.
Demolition of the office building at the former Stamina Mill took place on Tuesday, Dec. 15, and locals watched as the dilapidated and decaying structure came down.
The work brought an end to a long-awaited effort to ensure safety of the area surrounding the School Street building.
First opened in the early 1900s, textile mill itself burned down in 1977. A chemical spill in 1969 had contaminated groundwater at the five-acre site, leading the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to get involved with remediation efforts starting in the 1980s.
But the office had remained untouched, a two-story building featuring unique, detailed architecture that over time, became an eyesore. With boarded up windows and a partially collapsed roof, the structure had long been deemed unsafe for entry, and in October, the EPA announced that it was also releasing asbestos into the environment.
Wearing white hazmat suits, workers sprayed down the structure to reduce dust.
