Readers be forewarned: 33 Allen Ave. is no place for the faint of heart. Behind the Forest Avenue commercial strip at Morrill’s Corner are four barren acres that resemble a bomb site. You enter at Bruno’s Tavern on Allen Avenue, where a strong drink is advisable before venturing further.
Just beyond Bruno’s you’re confronted by graffiti depicting a tattooed face beside this advice: “RUN!” Then you come upon the charred remains of an indoor flea market and the long-unused skate ramps in another warehouse decimated by fire. At the farthest edge of the site you encounter a surprising oasis of activity. A small, decrepit factory reads “Boxing Club” down its chimney; it is, in fact, the home of the reputable and popular Portland Boxing Club.
The buildings here depict two generations of use. The original architecture served a lumberyard and poker-chip factory, roughly dating from the construction of the railroad in 1948. The haphazard reuse of these industrial structures began in the early 1980s, including the flea market, skateboard park, a bingo hall and the boxing club.
The site has gotten dumpier ever since. Tires, mattresses and building debris have accumulated over the years, and the soil in some areas is contaminated. There have been multiple accounts of arson, yet the ruins remain fire hazards. Criminal activity and repeated environmental and fire-code violations have added to the property’s stigma, but again, little has been done
to address any of these issues.
This dump is “obviously in dire need of development,” said Portland Boxing Club manager Robert Russo, who’s seen it deteriorate over the past 18 years.
That day may soon be at hand.
Packard Development’s long-delayed plans to construct a Super Stop & Shop supermarket, townhouses, apartments and other retail space on the site will supposedly move forward this summer, before the developer’s site-plan permit from the city is set to expire in July.
If the project ever does get built, Bruno’s will be the only structure to survive the transformation intact. The Portland Boxing Club will still be there, but it will occupy a new, much larger building.
Packard’s project has been held up for most of this decade by permitting issues, lawsuits, and, most recently, the recession. But if the company doesn’t break ground by July, it’ll have to start the permitting process all over again.
Bruno Napolitano of Bruno’s echoed Russo’s hope for improvement, but is skeptical the project will be built after such a prolonged process. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said.
Given the condition of the property at present, there’s nowhere to go but up, right?
— Cotton Estes
