A City Loses Its Heart

In Lynn, Mass., buildings and dreams go up in smoke

Brian Magrane, 38, chairman of the Economic Development Industrial Corporation in Lynn, Mass. (pop. 78,741), was feeling proud and elated as he drove home in the wee hours. His high school class reunion earlier that night had been a rousing success, and in three days a contract was to be signed for the final phase of his proudest achievement: a fiveyear, $194 million renewal of Lynn's downtown. Vast, empty Victorian brick factories, relics of the Lynn's long reign as "Shoe Capital" of the nation, were being recycled to serve a reawakening city as offices, stores, apartments and classrooms. But as he drove along Boston Street, Magrane was seized with panic. "I saw flames and said, 'Oh, my God, what's that?' "

What Magrane saw was the core of the urban renewal area engulfed by fire. The blaze skipped from building to building for more than 14 hours. Some 600 fire fighters converged from 91 communities in Massachusetts and nearby New Hampshire to battle the fire and to evacuate 750 residents. By the time Fire Chief Joseph Scanlon declared the conflagration under control at 4:55 p.m., four city blocks--about 6 1/2 acres--had been devastated. The losses: 17 buildings leveled, nine more badly damaged; 37 businesses providing 1,500 jobs burned out; $50 million in real estate ruined, plus $20 million or more in business and personal property; 400 people left homeless. No one was killed or even seriously injured. But the psychological blow was heavy. Lynn had lost jobs in industries ranging from shoemaking to jet-engine manufacture, and more than 20% of its population, since World War II. The renewal plan had offered the first plausible hope of reversing that all-too-common decline. Said Lynn Mayor Antonio Marino: "It was like watching my heart being cut out. We lost the momentum of the complete revitalization of the city."

The blackened wrecks of buildings, eerily smoldering in spots for days afterward, reminded onlookers of cities that had been carpet-bombed in wartime. Said Scanlon: "It looks like Berlin in 1945." Others thought of the awesome spectacles of nature. Lamented U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas after a somber tour: "This is a miniature Mount St. Helens."

Equally sobering was the assessment of city and state inspectors that the fire was probably caused by arson. The circumstantial evidence was persuasive. There had been three previous fires of suspicious origin within two weeks, all of them next door to the building where officials believe the blaze began. But baffled investigators could find no rational motive: the building belonged to a state-chartered development agency, and was minimally insured. Dejected Lynn leaders can take heart from the example of Chelsea, Mass. (pop. 25,431), just five miles southwest. In October 1973 a fire there destroyed 360 buildings over 18 city blocks. Now 65% of the fire site has been rebuilt, and the rest is scheduled for new development.

Farther back in Lynn's own rich 352-year history is an even more reassuring example. Almost to the day 92 years ago, the "Great Lynn Fire" gutted four banks, three newspapers, 158 factories, 128 homes and 80 shoe companies, the latter reflecting an industry entrenched in Lynn since 1635. That blaze, claims Retailer Barry Zimman, a former president of the Lynn Chamber of Commerce, unexpectedly brought Lynn renewed prosperity. It cut a swath through small outdated structures that were replaced by big brick shoe factories--some of them destroyed in what residents are already calling the "Second Great Lynn Fire."

Mayor Marino promises a similar rebirth this time, aided by federal disaster relief, which was granted to Lynn last week. Says he: "We have the strength to come back. We've always had that kind of determination."

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