SHELBY — The structural issues at a vacant storefront in Shelby are so bad that even the city’s firefighters refuse to go inside.
The Richland County Land Bank is pursuing a state grant to demolish the building.
The land bank board voted Wednesday to take ownership of 22 W. Main St., but only if it’s awarded demolition funds from the Ohio Department of Development.
The land bank has razed hundreds of dilapidated structures. But Executive Director Amy Hamrick said this one poses unique challenges.
“We did have a structural engineer go through the property. It is going to be a very complicated demolition,” she said. “It is going to be probably one of the more complicated, if not the most complicated demolition we’ve ever done.”
The building is located next to Milk & Honey Coffee Co., which has a separate seating area that wraps around the back, forming a capital L shape that borders 22 W. Main St. on its west and south sides.
A gap of about six inches exists between the two structures in some places, but the buildings share a roof and 22 W. Main’s south wall, where Milk & Honey has a secondary seating area.
As a result, contractors will have to shore up and later rebuild that wall, rendering the secondary seating area temporarily unavailable. They’ll also have to weatherproof Milk & Honey’s east wall after the demolition and stabilize the roof.
Jeff Parton, the land bank board’s vice chair, said the secondary portion of the coffeeshop’s seating area may need to be temporarily closed off during demolition. However, the kitchen, ordering counter and a majority of its cafe seating should be unaffected by the project.
Shelby Fire Chief Sam Sauder identified “serious safety concerns” with the building in a letter dated Sept. 29. They included separation of the building from the adjoining structure, holes in the floor and visible bowing of the east exterior wall.
“These conditions create significant hazards for anyone entering the building and raise concerns regarding the possibility of structural failure or collapse,” Sauder wrote. “The fire department considers interior firefighting operations at this location to present an unacceptable risk to emergency personnel.”
Hamrick said she’s confident in contractors selected for the project
The board approved agreements with three contractors Wednesday — R&D Excavating of Crestline, Kelstin Inc. of Shelby and American Homestead Exteriors, LLC of Mansfield — to complete the work.
R&D Excavating LLC will handle the demolition for $186,425. The company has been awarded several high profile land bank projects, including Westinghouse and the West Park Shopping Center.
Kelstin, Inc. will shore up the rear wall during demolition and weatherproof the exposed east wall of Milk & Honey for $170,000.
American Homestead Exteriors, LLC will handle the roofing portion of the project for $7,759.19.
The board voted to exempt the project from competitive bidding, which the board’s attorney John Studenmund said is permissible under Ohio law.
“Ohio Revised Code allows it when you need specialized services,” he explained. “Because this demolition is unique, we’re hiring and requested estimates from contractors we know had experience.”
All the contracts are contingent on the land bank receiving the demolition grant. The total project cost is estimated to be $370,252.27.
Hamrick said having agreements in place with contractors would make the land bank’s application for an state grant more competitive.
“I’m confident that the group we have will be able to pull this off. We’ve got a great group of people all working on it,” she said.
The land bank board also approved a contingent donation agreement with the current property owner, Ray Mellick. If the land bank accepts the property, Mellick agreed to donate funds to cover the required local match (30 percent of project costs), up to $110,000.
Applications for ODOD’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization program are due Friday. Hamrick said she hopes to find out if a grant has been awarded by the end of the year.
“If they make that timeline, I have no idea,” Hamrick said.
The work would need to be done by May 31 to comply with grant deadlines, though it could be completed sooner.
“It is going to be a little bit dependent on the weather, unless it becomes an emergency and we have to take it down,” Hamrick said.
The building at 22 W. Main St. was most recently the site of a computer repair and internet services provider, according to Joe Gies, city of Shelby project manager and a member of the land bank board.
Gies said it was in use until March of this year.
Also during the meeting Wednesday, Hamrick shared that the land bank had received an award from the Ohio Auditor’s Office for excellence in financial reporting.
