Marina in the Middle of a Mess

Stoneham Boat Center, a mainstay business on the Saugus River, faces a dilemma as the boating season begins. It can’t use its main building, which has been declared unsafe by the City of Lynn

By Mark E. Vogler

Tim Horgan’s Stoneham Boat Center has been a thriving family business on the Saugus River for nearly three decades. Boaters from Saugus, Revere and Lynn are the core of his customers who use the marina – based on the Lynn side of the Lynn-Saugus Belden Bly Bridge – which has been undergoing reconstruction since 2018.

But with the recent opening of the boating season, Horgan faces a major challenge: He’s prohibited from using the huge steel-frame building he rents for boat repairs and storage since the City of Lynn declared it “unsafe” on March 17. The building – owned by the Pike Family – is the subject of a lawsuit filed recently by Saugus Attorney Peter E. Flynn that threatens to stop the MassDOT bridge project pending stabilization of the building, which is on the verge of collapsing and “could be about to fall into the Saugus River.”

The motion for an injunction sought by Flynn in Essex County Superior Court also alleged that work done by the project contractor, SPS New England, is responsible for the structural problems that make the building “uninhabitable.” Meanwhile, SPS New England, Inc. denies responsibility for the building being damaged by the construction work. “SPS New England, Inc. has performed all work on the Route 107 / Belden-Bly Drawbridge in a professional and safe manner and has adhered to all contract requirements including performing a survey of the existing condition of the 1147 Western Ave structure and foundations prior to construction, and extensive vibration and crack monitoring during construction activities,” the company said in a statement to The Revere Advocate. “The structure was built in 1959 and per our structural expert – GZA – the deterioration of the structure is due to decades of tidal activity and not to the last two to three years of construction activity.”

Horgan, a 72-year-old Revere resident, said he feels threatened and frustrated by challenging circumstances beyond his control. “I’m the guy in the middle. I’m the one who is going to suffer the most from what’s going on,” Horgan told The Revere Advocate in a recent interview.

“The bridge construction people may say the same thing,” he said.

“The place is definitely compromised. The foundation is falling. We’re getting water in the building. The first 20 years I was here, we didn’t get water in the building,” he said.

Marina faces “a huge impact”

Horgan has been leasing the 125 feet by 25-foot building at 1147 Western Ave. since 1996. “We’re in our 29th year and this is where we spend most of our time,” said Horgan, a 1971 Lynn Classical High School graduate who grew up in West Lynn and now lives with his wife Eileen in the Port of Pines section of Revere. They have two children who work at the marina: Timothy Jr. and Kelly.

He’s been a member of the Point of Pines Yacht Club since 1980 and is currently the fleet captain. He cherishes his connection to the Saugus River, which flows through the three communities he frequents.

“I grew up on the Saugus River. My grandmother’s house was on the water. I’ve been on the water in this neighborhood my entire life. I’m a Saugus River lifer,” Horgan said.

“When I was a kid, we’d go and swim off the docks. I learned to water ski in the river. I got chased by Mr. Cicolini, the Saugus harbormaster. The river is a big part of me,” he said.

A member of the City of Lynn Inspectional Services Department attached a yellow tag on the window of a front bay door of the Stoneham Boat Center workshop building on March 17. The tag warned “NO TRESPASSING” and “UNSAFE.” It ordered anyone approaching the building not to enter or occupy the building.

Horgan said there were indications last fall that trouble was brewing when the building’s owner hired a lawyer to address some issues regarding the building. “Ever since, we’ve been kind of looking over our shoulders, worried about what could happen,” Horgan said.

“We utilize this building every day. This is my son’s home away from home. If the building remains unoccupied indefinitely, it’s going to have a huge impact on our ability to service our customers,” he said.

“We are a boatyard. We depend on our building to provide service. It’s our lifeblood. We have 35 boat slips and we store close to 100 boats for the winter. An active client list of about 100 people. The core of our business comes from Saugus, Revere and Lynn. They are our primary customers.”

Making the best of things

As long as the yellow tag remains on the workshop building, there’s little that Horgan can do – except to do what’s necessary to stay in business. He’s considering possible use of tarps or tents to do work outside during the boating season. “We’re not supposed to do any work in there,” he said.

“Little by little, we are removing things we need. We’re spending time adjusting to the situation and it’s preventing us from getting work done when the weather is bad – rainy and cold windy days, when you want to be inside with the doors closed. If every day were sunny, it wouldn’t be a problem,” he said.

The timing of the building being shut down indefinitely hasn’t helped, according to Horgan. “April 1st is our kickoff date to get the boats ready to go, depending upon what Mother Nature has to say,” he said.

“In 2015, we spent the whole month doing snow removal. It snowed the whole month of March. There was a lot of snow on the ground,” he said.

All of Stoneham Boat’s equipment and tools are stored in the shop. Removing them when they are needed for work will take time. He foresees delays and disruptions. Projects will take longer to accomplish.

“It’s coming at us from all angles. We’re just rolling with the punches on a daily basis,” Horgan said.  “And we’re concerned about what the future is going to bring.”

“Just when I think things can’t get any worse, they do. It would be nice to see a light at the end of the bridge,” he said.

The current target date for completion of the bridge project is July of 2026, according to SPS New England. “We were told it was just going to be a three-year project as far as this part of the construction,” Horgan said.

But the project has and will take much more time. MassDOT initially took a 19,000-square-foot, five-year easement on the land near Stoneham Boat Center in 2018, then renewed the easement for another four years in 2023. “For six years now, there has been heavy construction with massive equipment right up against our building,” Attorney Flynn said.

“MassDOT has the right to do this until at least 2027, which will be nine years,” he said.

“We’re still in business”

Area residents who use Lynn-Saugus Belden Bly Bridge will be glad to see the end of construction, as it will smooth out the traffic flow on Route 107. Horgan said he can hardly wait, too, considering the adverse impact the project has had on his business.

“I used to own the corner of 134 Ballard St. in Saugus that was taken from me – the Lobstermen’s Co-op Building. They took it in 2018,” Horgan recalled.

The ongoing work involving cranes and other heavy equipment in front of Stoneham Boat Center has made his business less visible. “We lost our frontage. We don’t get any exposure from the traffic that passes by because we’re hidden,” Horgan said.

“The value of having our main thoroughfare in our front yard has been eliminated ever since they started this project. They took away our front yard and we’re blocked off from the traffic,” he said.

Being near the center of the bridge construction site has affected the everyday work environment for the marina, especially the sounds and vibrations coming from the hammering of the pilings to stabilize the bridge. “From all that pounding, a trophy fell off a shelf on the wall of the office,” Horgan said.

“Other things have fallen off the wall when they’re working. It’s just like an earthquake. There’s been days in here when it feels like there’s been an earthquake going on,” he said.

But the biggest impact felt by the Stoneham Boat Center workforce of seven people has been the toll they’ve witnessed it take on the workshop building during the bridge construction project – right up until its shut down by a Lynn building inspector, according to Horgan, who said he doesn’t feel uncomfortable being in the building. “But I’m not a structural engineer either,” Horgan said.

“I’m not happy the place is sinking down the way it is. The floor has been sloping the past six to eight years. At first, it had a mild slope to it. Now, it’s dramatic,” he said. “It happened over the years, very subtle and very slow. We haven’t been able to close the door for two years. None of this happened suddenly.”

Eileen, the bookkeeper at Stoneham Boat Center, wants to reassure the public that the business is doing its best to go on. “With everything going on, we want people to know we’re still in business,” Eileen said.

“We’re still open and operating and functioning as best we can. People need to know that,” she said.