It is unknown how much money FEMA would release to the city. The city is setting up a committee to prepare an application for Project Impact, according to city officials. The application will go through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Mr. Hoover said Project Impact money could be used to improve the city's building inspection system. In addition, money could be dedicated to rehabilitating structures and, in the last resort, to tearing down dangerous buildings.
Community activists have mixed feelings about demolition.
Many neighborhood activists, however, consider vacant apartment houses and warehouses dangers to their communities and want them torn down immediately. Mr. Breault, who has supported the city manager's attention to abandoned buildings in the aftermath of the warehouse fire, said he is now getting frustrated with the pace of the city's efforts. The potential entry of FEMA into the process is a welcome sign, he said. Now we have an opportunity to get some technical assistance.