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Old jail, other property set to be auctioned off
NEVADA, Mo. -- One of the most distinct and architecturally ornate buildings in Nevada will fall under the auctioneer's gavel on Thursday, May 31. The old U.S. Post Office/Vernon County Jail at 230 W. Cherry St. just west of the Nevada Square will be sold along with other county owned items during a surplus property sale held at that location.
Auctioneer Jim Earnest said the sale will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the historic building and 134-by-140-foot corner lot it has been on for more than 100 years will sell promptly at 6 p.m. The building and everything else in the sale will be sold at an absolute auction, with no minimums and no reserves and taken "as is," Vernon County Southern Commissioner Kennon Shaw said.
Originally built as a United States Post Office, the Cherry Street building was completed in 1910. Demand for postal services dictated a new building, and in 1963, the Postal Service moved to its current location on East Cherry Street. The county purchased the building, which served as the jail and sheriff's offices until new facilities were completed in May 2009
Three years of vacancy have not been kind to the structure. The roof leaks and some of the outer brick walls are crumbling under the roof rafters. Paint is peeling off in segments as big as a man's hand and there is much mold throughout the building. The cell doors and bunks are rusted and the ceilings are coming down in some places. Pigeons have been accessing the building through broken windows and using it for a roost. In some places, the pigeon waste is more than an inch deep.
Feathers are scattered from the attic to the basement. Stainless steel toilet fixtures in the cells are the only things still shining in the dank, powerless building.
There are more jagged edges and rough spots in the old structure, but the glory of a once grand building can still be seen in the interior details and exterior design. Many of the original walls are lined with marble.
A marble staircase to the second floor has a graceful bannister with intricate wrought iron lattice instead of spindles.
The glass of the arched windows is a quarter of an inch thick and the windows are topped with elaborate and decorative external stonework.
The building retains hints of its past in other ways as well. The old coal chute and storage room are still there and so is the duct work. The attic still has some old files lying around.
The kitchen still has the cabinets. Improvements have been made over the decades. The new owner will get it all, whether they pay $1 or $1 million.
Some would like to see the old building saved and restored. Although he knows it's not really feasible, Shaw said he'd like to see that happen. And so would Dale Eshelman of Nevada.
New to the area, Eshelman said he "would like to see it on the National Register of Historic Places." Eshelman said he has begun the application process to do that, but found out about the sale too late to accomplish the task.
Eshelman was one of many people who toured the edifice during an open house held Thursday.
Earnest said a man from Lamar arranged to see it that evening. He estimated 25 to 30 people also had toured the building during the first open house, held last week, some of whom seemed interested.
Shaw said some people had been to the commission's office in the past several months and were interested in purchasing the building, but Northern Commissioner Neal Gerster said, "the only way we can sell it is to offer it to the public."
Hence the public auction of the structure and a variety of other county surplus items.
The county sells its surplus vehicles, building materials and equipment "anytime we have a significant amount," said Gerster.
"It's been couple of years or three," since we've had one, Gerster said. Everything in the jail goes with it, including some old desks, trash cans and all the junk and mess. And the county has other items that will be sold.
Gerster said there are some warped but otherwise new bridge planks in the sale and some concrete culverts of varying size. Several trucks and cars will also be sold to the highest bidder.
A welder, a compressor and many other pieces of power equipment and several electronic items like monitors, keyboards and printers will also be sold.
For a complete listing of sale items and more details, see the ad in the Wednesday, May 23, edition of the Nevada News or call the Town and Country Auction Service at (417) 684-7797 or (417) 448-9540.