Thursday, November 2, 2000 Older Editions

Mill artifacts won't take powder

By Rebecca Piro

Developers of Powdermill Square are still waiting for the state to say they can start digging.

But before the steamshovels and dumptrucks tear up the site, residents might see archaeologists on their hands and knees using spades and brushes.

That's because developer Northpoint Realty has agreed to allow an archaeological dig before major construction gets underway.

Members of the Board of Selectmen, Preservation Commission, and Massachusetts Historical Commission are all support this decision.

The proposed housing and office complex called Powdermill Square would be located on North Main Street, next to the Shawsheen River and Stevens Street where six buildings, all part of an industrial historic district, currently stand.

Dating as far back as the Revolutionary War, paper, grist and powder mills stood on that site, says Preservation Commission Chairwoman Karen Herman. Last week, several town officials and volunteers petitioned the state to require an archaeological dig there.

"If we're going to have as an intensive a development as this one is, this is probably our last opportunity to see what's beneath the surface," says Herman.

Last Thursday, Oct. 26, Northpoint's attorney Bob Lavoie announced that the developer had recruited a University of Massachusetts Amherst team to pick through the layers of soil in hopes of salvaging artifacts, says Selectmen Chairman Brian Major.

There is a good chance that the UMass team will find something of historical value, Herman adds.

"I think there is a good possibility. It could go from finding very little to finding a lot," she says.

Whatever is discovered would most likely stay in Andover for the whole community's benefit, Herman says.

There are also four houses on-site - which are protected only by a six-month demolition delay - that Northpoint will give to any person willing to move them off-site, says Major. If there are no takers, anything of historical value inside the homes can be salvaged before they are demolished, he adds. Herman does not expect anyone to volunteer to move the buildings, because they are in such "deplorable condition." But the architect of Powdermill Square has offered to take photographs of the homes and complete drawings of the inside layout of each building for historical record.

"That, I am very grateful for," says Herman.

The state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs is expected to announce soon whether it will require developers to file an Environmental Impact Report before going forward with the project, says Major.