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City sets hearing for empty Main St. building

Justin Addison Editor/Publisher
Posted 10/13/20

The City of Fayette is continuing its effort to address the situation of abandoned buildings in town. Nearly a block of buildings on the west side of the courthouse square has been a source of …

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City sets hearing for empty Main St. building

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The City of Fayette is continuing its effort to address the situation of abandoned buildings in town. Nearly a block of buildings on the west side of the courthouse square has been a source of contention for nearly a decade. Now, the city has set its sights on another abandoned building on the west side of North Main Street in Fayette, known commonly as the old Village Place building.

The building has been in a state of disrepair as it has been empty since the Village Place closed down more than a decade ago. The city has sent notice of a hearing scheduled for Nov. 6 to the building’s owner, who reportedly lives in Alaska. “We’ll put on evidence that it’s a dangerous building,” said Nathan Nickolaus, the city’s attorney. 

Following the hearing, the city council could then vote to issue an order to tear down the building. The owner of the building would receive time to repair, demolish, or otherwise rid himself of the building. “If he doesn’t (do anything) the city could proceed without him,” explained Mr. Nicholaus.

Michael Dimond, executive director of Fayette Main Street, Inc., asked the city to pull back its reigns with regard to the building’s demolition. Fayette’s downtown maintains historic district designation. The Fayette Courthouse Square Historic District was designated in 1998 through the National Parks Service. The building in question was erected around 1925 and was one of the contributing buildings that led to the formation of the historic district.

“If providing a limited window of opportunity…to do some repairs is feasible, we would strongly encourage that,” Dimond said.

The city could also explore the use of eminent domain laws to seize ownership of the building. It could then choose to sell, repair, or demolish the structure.

“We can use eminent domain to purchase blighted properties, and clearly it’s a blighted property,” Mr. Nicholaus told the council. The city would have to pay market value for the building, he explained. 

Ruether Buildings Re-inspected

In October 2019, the city hired engineering firm Klinger & Associates to inspect four buildings on the block of Church Street that makes up the west side of the courthouse square. The firm provided a report with recommended repairs. Two weeks ago, Fayette brought back the engineering firm to re-inspect the buildings in order to verify that repairs had been made. 

“It doesn’t look good,” said Fayette Building Inspector Danny Dougherty. 

The city had ordered the owner of the buildings, Dan Ruether of Columbia, to make repairs to the buildings or face legal action. The city’s attention was piqued in February of 2019 when bricks from the building's decorative cap became loose and plunged to the sidewalk near the corner of Church and Morrison Streets. The city closed the sidewalk and ordered Ruether to repair the bricks.

Ruether stalled, telling the city he needed to wait for warmer weather before repairs could be made. But as spring and summer came and went, work had still not commenced and the sidewalk remained closed. Finally, repairs were made and the sidewalk was reopened nearly a year later.

Following the initial inspection from Klingner & Associates, the city gave Mr. Ruether a time limit to make necessary improvements included in the report. But it wasn’t until about a week before a hearing scheduled for Jan. 21 of this year between the city and Mr. Ruether was to occur when repairs had begun.

The Bell Block building on the corner of Church and Morrison Streets was erected in 1883. It hosts four street-level storefronts with second-story apartments. However, last year two businesses relocated to other buildings downtown due to deteriorated conditions of the building. It is one of three buildings owned by Mr. Ruether on that block. 

As recently as February 2013, the second story of another building owned by Mr. Ruether on that same block collapsed. While the rubble was removed, only a pitched, wooden roof remains of the top story of the formerly all-brick structure. It is known as the R.C. Clark building and was built in 1887. The two storefronts on the first floor remain empty.

The slanted roof was said to be temporary, but more than seven years later it remains an eyesore on Fayette’s historic downtown square.

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