Lynn accepting written bids for properties

By Thor Jourgensen -- The Daily Item
Thursday, September 18, 2003

A former student of the city's first shoemaking school hopes the abandoned building will be restored or replaced with housing after it is auctioned in October.

The city is accepting written offers to buy 50 High St. and 35 other properties until Oct. 21. The bids will be opened that evening by the City Council public property committee.

The winning bidders will be chosen based on the amount of their bid and how their proposed use of the properties impacts the surrounding neighborhood.

The three-dozen properties were taken by the city after former owners failed to pay property taxes. The council and Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce have tried different approaches to selling the properties, but, to date, have been unable to dispose of the lots in one large auction.

The High Street building is one of three properties on the auction list worth more than $100,000. The building is assessed at $134,000 by the city, but it has sentimental value to Arthur Smith.

The Lynn native attended the school for five years in the 1960s after teachers at the former Cobbett Junior High declared him "incorrigible and unteachable."

"I was the class clown, but I guess they didn't appreciate it," Smith said.

Smith studied every aspect of shoemaking in the peaked-roof wood building, perfecting his ability to craft soles, make uppers and learn the tricks of a trade that was once the backbone of Lynn's economy.

He practiced different trades after leaving the school, but never became a shoemaker. Now a landscaper, he still has a place in his heart for 50 High St.

"I can still remember my teachers' names. Seeing the place always brings back a lot of good times."

Built in 1951 as the city's first secondary school, 50 High trained shoemakers from 1925 to 1975. It was used for light manufacturing and housed various businesses. In 1999, Lynn residents led by the late Kathleen Leary worked to restore the building.

That effort improved security and fire protection in the structure, but the building remains vacant. Smith hopes that any bidders proposing to demolish the building will also suggest replacing it with housing. The lot is located two blocks from the Lynn shelter.

"It's a historic site; they shouldn't tear it down. But if they do, it should be for apartments," he said.

The High Street building is not the highest-appraised property on the auction list. A commercial building at the corner of Union and Silsbee streets is valued at $232,000 and a vacant house at 49 Vine St. is valued at $134,000.

The list also includes a home on Elmore Street and a condominium on Portland Street. The remaining properties are vacant lots ranging in size from a few hundred feet to three lots on Den Quarry Road totaling more than 150,000 square-feet.

The bidders must be present at the Oct. 21 public property committee meeting to answer councilor's questions. Successful bidders that do not complete their purchases within 45 days will lose their bid deposits and the property will be awarded to the next highest bidder.

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