Demolition Day for Old Watertown Factory on Pleasant Street

The abandoned site of the former Haartz-Mason factory – for decades an eyesore along Pleasant Street and the Charles River – has been shoulder-deep in demolition and removal for weeks now, with trucks taking away huge piles of rubble each day.

So the demolition of its towering brick chimney this past Wednesday was more of a symbolic event.

See photos on the right from the demolition of the Haartz Mason building.

But it was still pretty dramatic. As onlookers watched, a crane grasping a huge iron beam knocked against the base of the chimney, until it gave way and collapsed, disappearing in a cloud of dust that was immediately sprayed with water from a large tanker.

"(The demolition) was kind of beautiful," said Councilor Cecilia Lenk, who came out to watch the removal of this visible symbol of a bygone era, when factories were built right along the Charles River.

In February, the Planning Board unanimously approved a plan by Bedford-based Criterion Development Partners (CDP) to build a 170-unit apartment complex on the site, as well as a smaller apartment complex just across Pleasant Street. Seventeen units will be affordable housing. The opening is scheduled for fall 2012.

"It was one of the most responsive plans the council had ever seen," said Councilor Vincent Piccirilli.

He noted, for instance, that the grade-level parking garage for the complex is designed so that it allows flood waters to flow underneath it, be filtered, and fed into the river. The developers also plan to maintain the bikepath along the Charles River near the complex and to promote the use of mass transit.

"Residents can walk up the street or the bikepath to an express bus in Watertown Square or one block up Howard Street to the 70 bus," said CDP Vice President Heather Boujoulian.

CDP will also promote Charlie Cards for the MBTA and provide indoor bike storage in the complex. And some ground-level space will be available for retailers, such as a coffee or ice cream shop.

"Once new residents are living in these new developments along Pleasant Street, the demand will come for other amenities, and businesses will want to provide them," Piccirilli said. He'd like to see a car-sharing outfit like Zipcar offered in such complexes, for instance, as they are now in other parts of Watertown where demand grew for them.