Building collaspe
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The owner of a crumbling downtown building has come up with a last-minute effort to save the property from demolition.
Jim Zandt, who owns the building at the corner of Wind Street and Second Avenue, has hired Dave Obenauer, owner of High Rise of Sioux Falls, to fix the building and put the stone blocks back on it. He brought the plan to the Flandreau City Council at a special meeting on July 8, a meeting initially planned for approval of a bid for demolition of the building.
“I fix a lot of these old buildings like this,” Obenauer said, referring to work he has done in Hartford and in Jaspar and Pipestone, Minn. “I know how to do it.” He said he has been in the building twice and could repair the building in 12 weeks, but first he wanted to get inside to look behind the interior wall to see what is failing.
The building started crumbling in March when block fell off the south side. Since that time, it has been fenced off at the street level and has hindered neighboring businesses. In May, the council declared the building a nuisance and gave Zandt 45 days to fix or tear down the building. Since the beginning, Zandt said he would like to save the building but hadn’t found anyone who would do the work. He also said he didn’t have the money to do the project.
The 45-day period ended July 7, at which time the city could do whatever it needed to take care of the public danger from the crumbling exterior. In preparation, the city had looked into asbestos removal and had entertained bids for demolition and removal of the building.
Claflin Excavating of Flandreau submitted the only bid, which was for $172,525. At the most recent meeting, the city tabled the bid, postponing awarding it until Obenauer can look more closely at the problem and possibly fix it.
Allison Claflin said her husband, Ernie, has plenty of work in the meantime, and their company would still honor the bid if the city changes its mind. “Ernie is willing to do this. He’s willing and capable.”
Asbestos removal and demolition would take about eight weeks to complete, according to the city’s schedule.
After discussion, the council voted unanimously to give Zandt a chance to save the property. The conditions include getting a report back from Obenauer in a week and have an engineer sign off on it. The timeframe would give the council a chance to find out more about his other projects.
Several council members also criticized Zandt for waiting so long to find someone to do the job and quizzed him on how he now has the money for the project.