At times this spring and summer, it’s felt as if excavators and dump trucks outnumber regular vehicles tooling around Burlington.
Construction continues on Main Street, the Champlain Parkway and at the CityPlace site (now known as “Burlington Square”). And this week, heavy machinery was hard at work tearing down two long-vacant buildings downtown: the graffiti-covered former Greater Burlington YMCA and the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception.
On the corner of College and South Union streets, the former YMCA has been an eyesore since it closed in 2020. Though it’s boarded up, the historic former gym, built in 1932, had been broken into and used by squatters multiple times since the Y moved up the street.
On Monday, an excavator with an arm taller than the building itself tore into metal support beams as shoppers at nearby City Market stopped to watch, even in sweltering 90-degree weather. All that will remain is the sloped-roof brick facade facing College Street.
“It’s really exciting for Burlington,” Mary Lee said as she watched the demolition. Her husband, Bruce Baker, is the lead developer on the six-story, 79-unit apartment building that will go up on the site. Like many, she believes Burlington needs more housing, and, she said, the project is a step in the right direction. Previous owners had planned to build a hotel on the site.
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The most recent building permit, filed in February, puts the price tag for construction at about $42.5 million.
On the other side of downtown, a similar scene was playing out at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, where two large excavators were hard at work. A massive water gun was used for dust suppression, and dump trucks were hauling away the scraps. Workers chewed through the building front to back, with about half of the walls already removed, exposing a deep basement they plan to fill.
The cathedral at 20 Pine Street has been vacant since 2018, when parishioners’ attendance dwindled below sustainable levels. After years of vacancy and legal battles with historic preservationists, the parish says it is selling the property to an undisclosed buyer.
The contract isn’t valid until the cathedral is demolished, according to John Franco, the parish’s attorney. But once the lot is razed, the parish may have to pay taxes. Previously, the property was exempt from taxation because it was used for religious purposes. The parish has argued that since the building was still standing as of April 1, when taxes were assessed, it is exempt under Vermont law.
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The cathedral is in Burlington’s “downtown core” district, which permits buildings up to 10 stories tall — about the height of the towering Burlington Square project across the street.
It’s expected that demolition will take four to six weeks, according to Franco.
“Hopefully when we get it down and things will move along, the public’s curiosity will be answered,” Franco said.
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