Cap'n Jack's Three Buildings Now a Single Pile

Two excavators brought down the three Cap'n Jack's Inn buildings with startling speed on Tuesday.

Equally startling for many passersby was the empty space left on the Humphrey Street landscape.

Between 7:30 am and 2:15 pm the three buildings came down under the arms and buckets of two Meninno Construction excavators.

By mid-afternoon layers of rubble rested beneath the heavy equipment. The highest points on the lot are two thin pines in the corner.

Excavator operators Jeff Plumb, the site foreman, and John Sullivan felled the middle building first, the foreman said.

The bed of rubble made a platform for the end buildings, including the 1835 main building, to pile upon, he said.

"If you know how they go up you can take them apart," Plumb said.

The space will soon open even more as crews haul away all the rubble by the end of the week, said project developer Bruce Paradise.

The developer and his partner Barry Turkanis were on hand for the demolition. 

They said they received congratulations from people and are excited to start the project.

Ledge removal starts on April 15th to be followed by excavation and foundation construction in May.

Actual construction of the 15 luxury condos will start in June, the developers said.

People will be living in units by the summer of 2013.

The developers said they have purchase and sale agreements on a few of the units.

On Tuesday afternoon motorists slowed and walkers paused to fathom the altered landscape.

Some people who frequent the area said it was strange to see space where buildings once stood.

Others were surprised at the speed with which the structures came down. Expressions on people's faces indicated they were either intrigued or saddened by the demolition.

Harvey Newcomb, a lifelong Swampscott resident who is retired, was sorry to see the buildings go.

"It's sad," he said. "I'm sorry to see it go but what else are you going to do."

Historical Commission members voted unanimously in March to lift the delay on demolition of the structures.

Commission members said it was clear the owners were not going to agree to preserve any parts of the buildings so it was fruitless to hold out hopes of negotiating such an agreement.

Commission member Sylvia Belkin fought for the preservation but is now setting her sight on future protections for remaining historical structures along Humphrey Street.

She said she is hoping the town establishes a "local historic district to prevent this from happening in the future."