Work has started on a $35 million project to build apartments in the historic Indian Motocycle factory in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The five-story main building, where motorcycles were produced from 1903-1952 will be converted to 45 apartments. To retain the factory aesthetic, timber beams will be kept, the large windows restored and masonry repaired.
Dennis Bolduc, a motorcycle collector, whose grandfather worked in the factory, said he’s thrilled its being preserved.
"We produced motorcycles for World War I, World War II. There is an American story here," said Bolduc.
The project also includes building 15 apartments in a nearby empty fire station that has been called a neighborhood eyesore for 20 years.
First Resource Companies of Hanover, Massachusetts is the developer. It has a track record in Springfield with more than half-a-dozen other housing projects.
