Towers Shopping Plaza Explosion in 1965
From the Melrose Historical Commission
During the dawn hours 60 years ago, June 25, 1965, the Towers Shopping Plaza on Main Street (Whole Foods) was the site of a gas explosion that destroyed the complex. The shopping center was scheduled for its grand opening on the day of the explosion and city officials had attended a ribbon cutting ceremony just hours before the 4:20am blast. Had the explosion occurred a few hours later, hundreds may have been victims of the explosion.
Thousands of residents fled their homes as a series of explosions followed the main blast. Two truck drivers on site delivering to the new First National grocery store were knocked over but miraculously escaped injury and ran four blocks to sound the alarm. A nearby police cruiser driving by was lifted off the ground by the blast. Hundreds of residential windows shattered in the nearby neighborhoods and a 6-story apartment building under construction behind the shopping center was knocked off its underpinnings.
The gas company disputed that it was at fault, instead blaming ‘swamp gas’ for leading to the explosion. However, Melrose Fire Chief Sidney Fields believed that the gas lines from the street had been laid across soft peaty ground that settled, causing a rupture. The gas company initially tried to blame propane tank in the basement that a plumber had been using the day before the explosion to solder a drainpipe, however three weeks following the incident, that propane tank was found undamaged. The gas company went on to claim that the rupture to their main line discovered during the investigation had been caused by the explosion and was not the cause of the blast.
Three weeks later, fires were still smoldering at the site. The five businesses in the plaza were a total loss (First National grocery, Wellwood 5 and 10, Friendly Ice Cream Store, Towers Pharmacy and Anton’s Cleaners) although a cash register from the pharmacy was found weeks later having descended through the roof of an adjacent store during the blast.
Despite the gas company’s arguments that they were not at fault, by September 1965 the State Fire Marshall had determined it had violated code by laying its main gas line through unstable ground. The pipe had separated 3-4 foot to the rear of the 5 and dime store and gas had permeated the ground and entered the buildings, ultimately igniting via a pilot light. The gas company continued to insist that the separation was due to the explosion. Damage was estimated at $2 million, the equivalent of $20 million today adjusted for inflation. As late as 1974, court cases to determine the liability of the Mystic Valley Gas Company and its contractors were still moving through the courts.
Follow the Melrose Historical Commission on Facebook and on Instagram to see their latest content.