Scene of discovery beneath clock factory floorboards.
The developers of the new Clock Shop Lofts apartments recently stumbled upon a half-dozen high-power firearms buried beneath the floorboards of the former Hamilton Street factory complex.
That was the latest wrinkle to emerge in a Portland-based development company’s ongoing efforts to rehab the dilapidated former clock factory, strip club, and underground arts epicenter into 130 affordable apartments and artists lofts.
Josh Blevins, the director of historic redevelopment and government affairs for Reed Community Partners, the development company that owns the complex, told the Independent that his company is busy cleaning up the remaining asbestos, lead, PCBs, radium, and other environmental contaminants leftover at the site from its industrial past.
Contributed photos
Some firearms found in the basement of the former clock factory at 133 Hamilton St.
On Saturday, Blevins said, a crew of environmental contractors was working away at 133 Hamilton St. when the “scrap guy” on Reed’s team found a veritable arsenal of weapons buried in the crawl space beneath the collapsing floorboards of Building 14.
Among the weapons found in that space, Blevins said, were an an AK-47, a Bullpup (a French automatic weapon), a 20-gauge sawed-off shotgun, and a Hi-point 9 mm rifle. (An earlier version of this story reported that the cache included an Uzi. The police subsequently confirmed the AK-47 and informed the Independent that what “looked like an Uzi” was actually a Mach 11)
The Reed employees on site at the time immediately called the police. Blevins said the contractor who found the weapons had spent 20 years in the Navy as an ordinance disposal tech, and was able to help the officers identify some of the weapons.
Blevins said that none of the weapons were loaded.
“We have no idea how they got there,” Blevins said, “or who they belong to.”
Police inspect the unearthed firearms on Saturday.
The now-abandoned clock factory has a colorful past, including as a host to storied underground venues. Rumors also swirled about alleged gang or organized crime activities in some of the space.
The police are working on tracking down the source of this latest find.
“At least they’re off the street,” Lt. Karl Jacobson, who heads the police department’s intelligence unit, said of the find. “At this point it’s a mystery. We’ll be investigating.”
City police told Blevins’ contractors that they could continue working at the site, despite the discovery of the buried weapons.
Independent of the recent weapons discovery, Blevins said, the Clock Shop developers are still working to surmount the hurdle of a sole remaining tenant, the Scores strip club, refusing to leave their commercial space at 85 Saint John St.
Last month, a state housing court judge ruled that the strip club owners have to vacate the premises by the end of the month due to the expiration of their lease. But on Feb. 20, Peter Forchetti, the owner of the strip club, filed an appeal on the decision. According to the state’s judicial system website, the appeal is next set to be heard before state Superior Court Judge John Cordani on March 21.
Blevins said that, beyond a few months more of requisite environmental remediation work, the Scores eviction dispute is the only obstacle standing in the way of the developers moving forward with construction at the former factory complex.
The peculiar rifle is a "bullpup" not a "bullup".
[Paul: Thanks for the correction.]