Officials look at costs to demolish vacant city property

Residents have questioned what will happen with the former Second Street complex and parking garages, both of which are considered unsafe for public use.

The city has looked at costs to demolish the Second Street complex and the possibility of repairing the parking garages, said city manager Matt Winters.

State and federal partners have paid to have a Brownfield study done of the Second Street complex, which previously housed the police department and city hall. This type of study helps communities identify how to address and manage potentially contaminated property.

Information from this study has been shared with different area contractors and asbestos abatement companies to get early estimates of clean up, said Winters.

“It is a big empty vacant building,” Winters said. “The nature of vacant buildings, not being used, there’s been deterioration from roof leaks and things like that.

“There’s definitely a health concern from people entering the building.”

It is estimated asbestos abatement could cost about $25,000, based on these conversations.

Professionals estimate it could cost about $200,000 to tear down and dispose of the building, Winters said.

The city also has worked with an engineer who specializes in concrete work to assess its two parking garages.

“From his visual inspection, he felt like it could be fixed cheaper than (they) could be torn down,” Winters said.

Discussions with the engineer started in early 2020, but COVID-19 travel restrictions have hindered his ability to do more thorough inspections.

Those more thorough inspections will be needed before the city can decide how to proceed, according to Winters.