City gives up on saving fire-damaged buildings

Fort Scott City Commission voted Tuesday 4-1 to instruct city staff to prepare for demolition of the Miller and Nelson Block buildings.

"I think it's probably time that we move to take those shells down," City Manager Richard Nienstedt said to commissioners, "and I feel bad about that, but it's just the way it is. They're gone forever, and those things happen in a community."

Nienstedt has been in contact with Terracon, an engineering company, that will help the city become compliant with Kansas State Historical Society and Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Those agencies must approve the condemnation, ensuring that the structures don't have asbestos that could be released into the surrounding area, Nienstedt said.

Terracon will evaluate the area to determine the amount of asbestos, which became an issue in months following the March 2005 fire, when the city contracted with a business to haul away tons of rubble from the fire-stricken area. The city hired a company to monitor the asbestos in the air while crews hauled away the debris working under the presumption there was asbestos in the rubble. The same scenario will likely occur, because the city can't determine with certainty that procedures have been performed to ensure asbestos is not in the buildings.

He said the good news has been his recent conversations with local developers who have expressed interest in building on the block once the shells are removed.

"That's in the preliminary stages; there's not much to know beyond that point," he said. However, he hopes by the end of the year a development agreement might be reached, followed by construction.

The Kansas State Historical Society wants the city to preserve as many artifacts as possible from the walls before demolition.

"We took a major leap of faith in trying to save those buildings," Fort Scott Mayor Gary Billionis, who voted against the motion, said. "I'm disappointed that we didn't have the support from our downtown people that would help us get that done or give us the patience to work at it. I'm also disappointed we weren't able to find a developer."

Nienstedt said he was "surprised at the negativity that came out of trying to save those buildings."

Preserving the history of the buildings at the time was important to the city since many building had to be demolished followed by the fire. The commission voted to save the Miller and Nelson Block buildings at the corner of Wall and Main streets, in the months following the March 2005 fire that wiped out nine buildings downtown.

City officials at the time urged commissioners to stabilize the side walls and facades so developers could incorporate new buildings in the remains of the buildings. The Kansas State Historical Society and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development supported the plan by providing funding for the stabilization through an Urgent Need Grant.

The city hired an Internet real estate consultant from Salina to post the area on his Web site to attract potential developers. From May to August, the area was on the Internet for bidding though e-Bay. The city assumed it would attract a developer much like USD 234,which used the same Web site to sell the old Middle School. However, the city didn't receive any developmental agreements.

City officials had a meeting two weeks ago with a major developer from Kansas City, Mo. The developer told staff he could not "make the numbers flow" based on trying to determine what the tax credits were worth, since it's a specialty area, Nienstedt said.

In other business on Tuesday, commissioners:

* Approved an ordinance making Tiffany Lane a public street. Local developer Greg Schick, who is building houses on the lane that feeds into Williamsburg Subdivision, requested commissioners adopt a resolution making the lane public for maintenance purposes.

*Tabled an ordinance that would prohibit commercial truck parking on Broadway because the ordinance was not typed out and ready for commission viewing. It is expected to be on the Nov. 21 meeting agenda. The ordinance aims at increasing safety of the street, which was a hot topic for the past several months. The city has installed more speed limit signs, and Fort Scott Police have increased traffic enforcement. A yellow strip down the center of the street will not be painted because of limited room on the road.

Approved an agreement that allows the Fort Scott Jubilee to stay at Memorial Hall for 2007.