LEWISTON – Demolition work on four downtown buildings will move to the Lisbon Street alley Wednesday.

Crews from Costello Dismantling Co. Inc. will bring in cutting torches to dismantle the metal fire escapes behind the Cressey, Kora, Greely and New England Furniture buildings. The four unoccupied buildings were gutted by fire last week.

“They need to cut away the fire escapes so they can start to take down that wall,” said Norm Beauparlant, city budget and purchasing director. “It’s already difficult because of how narrow that alley is, and they don’t want to damage any nearby buildings.”

Crews began demolishing the buildings on Saturday, taking off the Lisbon Street faces of the Kora and Cressey buildings Saturday.

After a break for the Christmas holiday, they began tearing down the Lisbon Street face of the Greely building Tuesday and knocking down the walls separating the interiors of all three. Demolition of the New England Furniture building is expected to begin later this week.

The work will keep Lisbon Street blocked between Pine and Ash streets for at least another week, Beauparlant said.

According to Beauparlant, Greely Capital, owners of the Cressey, Kora and Greely buildings, is paying $400,000 to bring them down. The city is paying $165,000 to demolish the New England Furniture building.