By Seth Daniel and Katy Rogers
For many Chelsea residents, the Soldiers’ Home water tower with its distinctive red and white checkers pattern served as an unmistakable landmark of home.
From airplane windows, in rearview mirrors crossing the Mystic/Tobin Bridge, and from virtually every neighborhood in the city, residents could spot this iconic structure.
That era has now ended.
On Wednesday afternoon, May 29, at approximately 1 p.m., the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home water tower was demolished. The removal had been delayed for months while crews waited for suitable conditions to bring down the structure and clear the way for the $199 million state-of-the-art veterans hospital and living center.
The two structures could not coexist, and following an extended community debate the previous year, residents ultimately accepted the tower’s removal.
Starting around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, the demolition team established a 200 foot safety perimeter at Malone Park where the tower would fall. This preparation took several hours. By 12:30 p.m., crews began cutting through the support legs. After severing one leg on the north side, the tower was pushed over.
The structure fell with considerable force but largely remained in one piece.
The same demolition company had recently removed the water tower at the Weymouth Air Station on the South Shore.
Community members gathered to witness the demolition, joined by television crews from Boston media outlets equipped with cameras and helicopters. Following the tower’s descent, Cheryl Lussier Poppe, Superintendent of the Chelsea Soldiers Home, spoke with media representatives about how the removal will facilitate construction of the new veterans home that will succeed the aging Quigley Hospital. “fblikebutton_button”