July 20, 2001

After many meetings, reams of blueprints and months of planning, preliminary work to demolish the east wing of the Charles Street Jail has begun, a major step toward construction of a new ambulatory care building and underground garage.

Built in the late 1840s, the jail has a rich history that has placed it on the national and state Registers of Historic Places. Because of its architectural and historic significance, careful planning has been undertaken to preserve the integrity of the building.

For the past few weeks, workers have been documenting, photographing and labeling pieces of granite from the east wing before they are moved to an offsite storage location. Once this process is complete, approximately 750 stones will have been documented, so that they can be put back into their original places when part of the east wing is restored after completion of the underground garage. In a few weeks, work will begin to remove the roof of the east wing.