New London — The City Council has authorized borrowing $700,000 to cover a funding gap that had delayed the completion of demolition of the Thames River Apartments complex on Crystal Avenue.

The council authorized Mayor Michael Passero to sign off on an amended contract with Stamford Wrecking Co. as an emergency measure on Monday, “to address an urgent public need to preserve public health and safety by commencing demolition of the buildings immediately.”

The move clears the path for demolition of the three nine-story buildings to start this week. City officials are expected to gather at the site at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday for a ceremonial start to that demolition.

Bryn Terlizzi, senior project manager for Stamford Wrecking Co., said in a statement that the completion date is scheduled for May 31. Preparation work around the foundations of the buildings will be done first before any significant portions of the buildings will be demolished.

The first phase of the demolition, which included removal of much of the hazardous materials such as asbestos tiles, was completed in October. The work had stalled, however, with ballooning costs of both transportation and hazardous waste disposal.

Felix Reyes, director of the city’s Office of Development and Planning, said the market changed and along with rising costs it was becoming more difficult to find an approved site for debris disposal. “When landfills reach capacity, prices go up. We were caught in something uncontrollable,” he said.

Demolition costs increased by $581,090, with additional third-party monitoring costs totaling $127,000.

When the controlled demolition does commence, it will be done incrementally and selectively, since the buildings still contain hazardous materials such as lead paint and PCBs. Portions of the building, such as stairwells with lead paint, will be separated from other materials. Some of the material is being shipped to a waste site in New Hampshire.

The state had covered all of the $3.7 million initial cost estimate for the demolition and cleanup of the site. The council on Monday agreed to include the needed $700,000 in the city’s annual borrowing package associated with the 2022 Capital Improvement Plan. The Capital Improvement Plan in which the demolition was included totals $2.67 million and includes various infrastructure projects.

Councilor John Satti initially expressed displeasure with the move but ultimately voted in favor. “When the Thames River Apartments matter started many years ago, we were assured there’s more than enough money to complete the project and the money to demolish would in fact be covered,” he said. “To date, we are now seeing $700,000 in costs overruns.”

City officials hope the demolition puts to rest an era in the city that some officials refer to as a policy that served to warehouse the poor.

Thames River Apartments is a former federally subsidized 124-unit complex for low-income families. It was managed by the New London Housing Authority and consistently the target of complaints about substandard living conditions and crime.

A long-pending, class-action lawsuit filed by attorney Robert Reardon on behalf of residents of Thames River Apartments led to a court-stipulated agreement in 2014 that mandated better homes for tenants. That goal was accomplished in 2018, when a concerted effort was made by the housing authority and city to vacate and condemn the buildings. The city bought the property once residents were aided in a move out with federal housing vouchers.

The 12-acre property is expected to be marketed for commercial or industrial use.

Passero said he had planned to bring the demolition funding request to the council at a later date. He accelerated his plan after a fire in one of the buildings last week heightened public safety concerns. A squatter was found inside one of the boarded-up structures during the fire.

Fire Chief Thomas Curcio said vacant buildings cause a risk to residents and firefighters alike, especially when there is a need to search the building to check for squatters. “With any structure fire, there is always the possibility of someone remaining inside the building,” he said. “In a smoke-filled atmosphere, holes in floors and open elevator shafts pose a great danger to our firefighters. In this case, the elevator shafts were open in these buildings.”

Councilor James Burke said Monday that “it’s an unfortunate situation we’re here. It’s not normal for us to earmark $700,000 for a project we thought was fully paid.”

But, Burke continued, the urgency in continuing the demolition provides for better safety of both community members and first responders.

g.smith@theday.com