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Lawrence's is forced to sell Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Bob Butler By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune Bob Butler is stuck between a rock and a hard place. At 73, he considers himself too old to take out $550,000 in loans to repair his turn-of-the-century building. So the grandson of John F. Lawrence, Lawrence's Jewelers founder, has put the downtown Medford edifice up for sale. "We reached a point of no return where we really couldn't afford to do it," Butler said. The city of Medford this week declared Butler's edifice at Main and Bartlett streets a dangerous building, fearing a failing facade might fall on pedestrians. He has 60 days to repair or demolish the building. If it doesn't sell, he'll choose demolition. Butler last year discovered that a leaking downspout had caused interior damage upstairs in his building. It also started the facade's separation from the structure. Butler spent $26,000 for a steel-supported canopy to keep bricks from falling on the sidewalk. "We measure this crack regularly," said Butler, pointing to a place on the exterior of the building near six red-and-white striped supporting poles. "It hasn't moved since we put these steel poles and beams in and welded them to the building." Besides repairing the damage from the drainpipe, Butler planned to remodel the Main Street side of Lawrence's to make it look similar to the bank building across Bartlett Street. The project would have cost about $250,000. But then Butler got a $350,000 bid for seismic retrofitting, work the city requires of anyone remodeling a downtown commercial building. Butler said he is too old to finance lengthy loans and doesn't want to burden the next generation with debt. "We decided to sell the building instead," Butler said. A potential buyer might be the Medford Urban Renewal Agency, Butler said. "Demolishing that building is not consistent with the objections of downtown's revitalization," said agency director Don Burt. "It's like smiling and having a hole in your teeth." The two-story building that has also housed a hardware, grocery, clothing and piano stores since its construction in 1890 is situated on a small lot. It would likely sit vacant for a long time, Burt said. "We're definitely not in the business of buying properties," Burt said. "But one possibility is to acquire it, study the costs to renovate and sell it." The founder's great-grandson agrees with the city that the building is potentially dangerous. "There are public safety concerns," said Chuck Horton, co-owner of Lawrence's Jewelers with his brother, Jerry. They bought the business after Butler, their uncle, retired. "It should be repaired or torn down," something the family-owned business can't afford to do, Horton said. "Twenty years from now, if no one can afford to remodel a building because they have to meet earthquake standards, we're going to have more buildings falling down in downtown Medford." Meanwhile, the building's new designation as dangerous means Lawrence's Jewelers will have to move. Horton may need an extension beyond the city's 60-day deadline to give him time to pack up the Lladro collectibles, Waterford crystal, Mikasa china and other items that make his shop a downtown landmark. But if he moves to another downtown site, he will be following in the footsteps of his forefathers. John F. Lawrence opened the shop at 25 S. Central in 1908 and moved it five times before settling at 232 E. Main in 1952. "We want to stay downtown," Horton said. "We just have to make sure we can afford to." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.