91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

North Attleboro to demolish part of dangerous abandoned mill building starting Monday

By
Matt Schooley
Digital Producer, CBS Boston
Matt Schooley is a digital producer at CBS Boston. He has been a member of the WBZ news team for the last decade.
Read Full Bio
Matt Schooley

/ CBS Boston

NORTH ATTLEBORO – After the owners of a broken-down North Attleboro building missed the deadline to respond to town officials, part of the abandoned mill will be demolished starting Monday. The town and neighbors in the area grew concerned it could collapse at any moment. 

A portion of Broadway was closed Wednesday as the Webster Mill building was deemed in "imminent danger of collapse." People who live in the area call it a problem that's been going on for years, with one man calling the building a "time bomb."

anna-north-attleboro-building-noon-pkg-frame-1528.jpg
A North Attleboro building in danger of collapse. CBS Boston

North Attleboro officials gave the building owners until 4 p.m. on Friday to respond with plans to address the situation.

Since the town did not hear back, partial demolition will begin Monday.

Starting at 9 a.m., current detours will be extended from Richards Ave. to Roosevelt Ave. The town will place a sign on Eddy Street signifying detours.

Town officials said the extended detours will remain in place during demolition Monday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In order to prevent the spread of asbestos in the air, water will be sprayed onto the mill building during demolition.

"Since learning of the imminent threat that the Webster Mill poses to the public safety, the town has taken swift action in collaboration with our local and state partners to begin the partial demolition of the building," North Attleboro Town Manager Michael Borg said in a Sunday statement. "We are committed to ensuring that all public safety and health protocols are followed during the demolition process, and we will continue to work with the owners to clean up the property and put it back into use. In the meantime, we ask that community members do not go onto the property as its unsafe to do so."

In:

© 2024 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=50747257b890e014813016b79ece0fb2'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });