With teardown complete at 221 Mount Auburn St. – once the 66-unit Riverview Condominiums – the city of Cambridge expects to reopen the surrounding Sparks and Mount Auburn streets, lifting detours in place since July 19 and restoring normal traffic patterns on Friday.
“The building has been demolished, all trucking activities are complete, and the contractor has begun demobilizing equipment and materials from the site,” said Kristen Kelleher, a city community relations manager, on Monday.
Work started Monday on the final work needed to reopen streets, including fence removal, water line cut-and-cap operations and traffic sign adjustments. Crews will continue restoration work over the next several weeks such as cleaning, raking and other site cleanup, Kelleher said in an email.
The traffic detours will have lasted 272 days.
The nine-story building was evacuated in November 2024 after engineers discovered a risk of collapse from problems in the building’s concrete. Construction in the 1960s failed to follow approved plans, engineers said. Consigli Construction put the cost of repairs at around $73.2 million, and the condo association’s board of trustees instead opted to turn to the city for help demolishing the structure, with costs estimated at upward of $8.8 million.
Risk of collapse meant Riverview’s asbestos couldn’t be cleared through the usual remediation procedures and instead a “nontraditional work plan” was needed, according to the Cambridge Department of Public Works. The city authorized $20 million for the full project, costs that deputy city manager Katherine Watkins said would be recovered via a lien on condo property.
Work on the teardown began in early December and was entering its final phases by Feb. 20, Kelleher said. Several weeks of removal of debris and other material by truck started Feb. 28.
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