In the nearly two decades the whale research and ocean conservation nonprofit Ocean Alliance Inc. has operated out of the iconic Tarr and Wonson Paint Manufactory, the organization has had a whale of time cleaning up, preserving and upgrading the historic waterfront site on Rocky Neck.
So it might be a particularly gargantuan task to overcome resistance from those who want to preserve the the iconic Paint Manufactory building that date to the 1870s as Ocean Alliance plans to seek permits to tear it down due to pollution, and replace it with a replica red wooden post-and-beam building with “Manufactory Established 1863” written on the side.
Ocean Alliance, in a Facebook post Aug. 6, said two buildings that were taken down in 2011 will be rebuilt.
“The Manufactory and connector building will be replaced with identical structures — we will save what we can but pollution remains a problem, there will be no ‘new’ shape or form buildings.”
To date, Ocean Alliance has invested $6.5 million into the site for a pollution cleanup, upgraded power, a new sewer system, a new road with parking, and more. The organization is inviting people for a guided tour of the buildings Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 p.m.
The iconic red buildings are seen as a direct link to the city’s centuries-old maritime heritage and are part of the Rocky Neck Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It’s functional,” CEO Iain Kerr said. “We cannot afford just to create a piece of art. And in actual fact, the buildings are deemed eligible on the National Historic Register as a small industrial site. So, what we are doing is recreating that small industrial site in the original buildings.”
The organization recently submitted applications for permits, starting with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Kerr said.
‘Not a simple process’
He anticipates several meetings over the next six to eight months looking at every aspect of the site, given it is a marine-industrial zoned site on the waterfront. This will give the community plenty of opportunity for input.
“This is not a simple process,” Kerr said. “We have not been given a permit to do anything, yet.”
The project would preserve the footprint, outline and massing of the original Manufactory, he said.
Plans are to replace the wooden “Sea Jacket” building that was torn down before it fell into the harbor with a new Innovation Center. Kerr would like to see this building built on a barge that would sit on spuds or posts that would allow it to float in case of a massive storm or sea level rise due to climate change.
Ocean Alliance, which works around the world to protect whales and their ocean environment, including flying Snotbot drones to catch samples from a whale’s blowhole, has spent years upgrading the site at 32 Horton St. since purchasing it in 2008.
Four of the Manufactory’s six buildings have been preserved, Kerr said.
Scaffolding visible from across the harbor is a sign of an ongoing project to preserve the once bustling copper paint factory’s 60-foot chimney that had been in danger of collapse.
It’s being preserved even though the smokestack serves no purpose to Ocean Alliance’s mission. In May, the City Council approved $45,000 in Community Preservation Act money for a nearly $77,000 project for brickwork on three brick buildings and the chimney.
Raising it up
Over the years, the organization has taken pains to preserve the Tarr and Wonson factory that launched a revolutionary antifouling copper bottom paint to keep boats’ hulls free from growth.
When the site was acquired in 2008, every roof was leaking, there was rot and mold and copper and lead paint everywhere, Kerr said.
“This was a toxic site,” he said.
The brick buildings have been preserved, including the education center where students can learn more about whales and a library that’s heavily used.
“I’m a marine mammal biologist who loves old buildings,” Kerr said. Nothing has been easy about preserving the site; it cost $172,000 just to connect to city sewers.
Ocean Alliance wants to replace the iconic but decaying and contaminated Manufactory Building, also known as Building C, with a replica that would be about 5 feet taller. Its base would be brought up to the height of the rest of the campus. Even if the building were to be saved, it would still need to be raised up to meet current codes.
The first floor would be made into a “washout” floor to accommodate flooding. The building has sat abandoned since the 1980s.
The replica building’s windows and skylights would be in about the same locations as in the present structure. The roofline would be the same. It would be painted red. Old photos show the building was originally painted yellow, Kerr said.
Metal contamination
The difficulty in preserving the Manufactory Building is the high level of metal contamination within the wood as this was the building where the paint was “mixed and dropped.”
“In 2012, the results of core sampling of wooden beams and joists of the former Manufacturing Building indicated concentrations of lead, chromium, and mercury above the Massachusetts Human Health Risk Criteria and/or the Massachusetts Lined Landfill Limits standards,” according to a report by Ocean Alliance from July 2020 shared by Kerr.
A report looking at the replacement of the Manufactory describes the level of contamination in the buildings as “extreme.”
“Copper, lead, chromium, arsenic, asbestos, are just some of the toxic compounds found in these building and not at parts per billion levels but at billions of parts (extremely high levels).” Trying to seal the original decayed structure “would be exorbitant and impractical” and would not guarantee the building would be safe.
Removal of the decaying building, which is sitting on a pile of stones and polluted mud, would allow for the capping and remediation of the interior foundation.
Due to the contamination, under the state Department of Environmental Protection regulations, one would need to put on a suit and rubber boots to go inside, Kerr said.
Technically it would be easier to restore the Manufactory than deconstruct it “but the reality is I cannot spend $4 million on that building and find out, ‘oh my god, it’s off-gassing PAHs’” he said of polycyclic aromatic hydrocabons, chemical compounds formed by burning organic materials that are associated with human health risks, according to various online sources.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.