A new contractor expects to begin final demolition of the burned-out McMahan's Furniture building in downtown Salem by early December.

If all goes as scheduled, Portland firm Cooper Construction Co. says the three-story building at Commercial and State streets could be a memory by January.

Workers are shoring up the basement walls of the property, pumping in tons of fill material including soil and crushed rock, said Tom Phillips, the city's building and safety administrator.

"The basement walls actually support the alleyway and the public way along there, the sidewalks and stuff," Phillips said. "They have to do a lot of shoring so the demolition doesn't cause more damage."

Demolition also has been complicated by the location of power, telephone and sewer lines down the alley to the west and an electrical vault located under the sidewalk outside the business, Cooper project manager Mike White said.

The contractor also will be demolishing the Les Newman's store next to McMahan's and must take steps to shore up a wall that connects the Newman's building to a bike shop next door.

"Everything that could make this project a little more complicated, did," White said.

To dismantle the building, Cooper Construction will use a demolition processor, a hydraulic machine that pinches concrete down to rubble. Backhoes also will pull down sections of concrete wall and load them into dump trucks for transportation to a rock crusher.

The company hopes to recycle more than 80 percent of the concrete removed from the building, White said.

"Their objective is to take it down as clean as possible, so it won't affect businesses around them," Phillips said.

McMahan's Furniture burned down Aug. 10 in a roaring blaze that required all the city's firefighting resources to halt.

Salem fire officials still haven't confirmed the cause of the fire, department spokesman Bill Holmstrom said.

Investigators are waiting for test results from the insurer of the business, The Hartford, which hired a third-party laboratory to test electrical equipment found in the basement. It is thought that equipment malfunctioned and started the blaze.

Ultimately, the building will be removed and the rest of the basement filled with soil.

"The lot will be returned to a level grade with the street," White said.
Joe Driggers, whose family owns the McMahan's building, said several developers have contacted him about forming a joint venture to redevelop the site or buying the lot outright.

Driggers said he expects to meet with his insurance company next week to discuss the replacement value of the McMahan's building