3 of the 4 structures on this property have been turned into apartments, but there is one hidden gem in the far back near the river.
Be careful as one explorer who took a 6 story tumble off the roof found out
http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_13418421 "
Dracut teen critical after six-story plunge in abandoned Lowell millBy John Collins
09/25/2009 08:33:28 AM
LOWELL -- The radio broadcast went out about 2:45 a.m. yesterday.
The dispatcher had picked up an urgent call from a long-abandoned factory on the grounds of the Massachusetts Mills complex off Bridge Street. Some youths had broken their way inside and had climbed up, floor by floor, through the darkness.
One of them took a wrong step, and he was gone.
The moments went by.
Then his friends spotted him, six stories down at the bottom of a chimney shaft.
One of them punched 911 on a cell phone.
Police and firefighters rushed to the former Abbey Shoe Corp. at 100 Mass Mills Drive and began picking their way through the ruins. An alert was sent out: Watch your step because there are holes in the floors all over.
About a half-hour later, rescuers found Christopher O'Leary, 18, of Dracut at the bottom of the shaft, in the basement.
"According to witnesses, he had fallen approximately 70 feet off the top of the building," police Capt. Randall Humphrey said.
O'Leary was transported by ambulance to Cawley Stadium, where he was flown by helicopter to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. He remained in critical condition late last night.
Police said O'Leary had climbed to the roof of the mill with two friends, Nicholas Limberopoulos of Pelham and David Sayer of Dracut, both 19, when he disappeared.
"They then observed the victim at the bottom of the shaft," Humphrey said.
No charges have been filed against the teens.
"It is still under investigation regarding their decision to enter this abandoned property and climb to the roof," said Humphrey.
O'Leary's grandmother, Jessie O'Leary of Dracut, said last night that he was in surgery most of the day and his vital signs are stable.
"Considering what he has been through, he's doing a lot better than he should be," she said, adding that his parents, Michael and Jean O'Leary, were at the hospital with him. "We're all very optimistic."
O'Leary said her grandson recently graduated from high school and was studying to be an electrician.
The Massachusetts Mills complex consists of several mill buildings, including some that have been renovated into residential housing. The building in which O'Leary fell has been vacant for years, with many broken windows and boarded-up entrance ways.
Mark Fabrizio, who lives in a neighboring building, said he has called police many times to report on teens entering the old mill, breaking windows, sometimes firing paintball guns.
"I was afraid something like this was going to happen. It was too easy for them to go in and out," said Fabrizio. "But I figured that nobody would actually do anything about it until somebody got hurt."
The owner of the Massachusetts Mills complex, Joseph Mullins, did not return a phone message left yesterday at The Joseph Mullins Company, based in Braintree.
Police said the management company was instructed to secure the building at first light yesterday to deter further trespassing attempts, but later in the morning, a reporter found a only a sheet of particleboard lightly propped up in front of a first-floor window.
The outside of the mill where O'Leary fell is marked with a large red X to alert firefighters that the building is unsafe and should not be entered.
Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee said staying out of abandoned buildings is a matter of common sense.
"Don't even think of going in there," he said. "It's dark, you don't know
your way around. Unfortunately, this young man, for whatever reason, went in there and suffered very serious injuries."
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