JANESVILLE
Bruce Monson said he did what he could to keep the building at 13 N. Main St. standing, but hurdles introduced by the city made it impossible to do so.
City officials believe the building is a risk to public safety and needs to come down. Officials maintain they did what they could to work with the owner.
Demolition of the 119-year-old building began Monday after more than a year of back and forth between the city and the owner, Monson, over a raze or repair order.
Building Director Tom Clippert said demolition will take 30 to 40 days, longer than most demolitions because the building鈥檚 location calls for careful removal.
The building is wedged between Legends Bar and O鈥橪eary law office. Demolition has to be done piece by piece to avoid disturbing the adjacent buildings, Clippert said.
Dave Harrison, manager of Legends, said he hopes business is not affected by demolition.
The only issue Harrison anticipates is having less available parking in the spots right outside the bar, he said. Otherwise, the bar will maintain business as usual.
The back of the building is situated on the Rock River where there is not enough room for machinery, meaning crews have to work from the front of the building. Traffic on Main Street has been shifted to accommodate, Clippert said.
Monson said he won鈥檛 drive past the building or watch it come down because he doesn鈥檛 want to be angry about it anymore.
The city issued a raze or repair order Aug. 15, 2018, because inspectors found the building was 鈥渦nsafe, unfit for human habitation, or was considered deteriorated to such an extent as to be a nuisance,鈥 according to the order.
The order cites 鈥渘umerous code violations鈥 that led the building to be in blighted condition, but Monson said he was never given a list from the city of what codes he violated.
At the time the order was issued, Monson believed Florida businessman Quint Studer intended to buy and redevelop the building, but that did not pan out, Monson said.
A month after the order was issued, Monson entered an agreement with Tim Millis, owner of Legends, to buy the property, according to court documents provided by Monson.
Millis changed plans, and Monson and Millis mutually voided the land contract, according to documents.
In May, Monson entered an agreement with Luther Ledic of Rocket Realty and Property Management to come up with a plan to rehabilitate and then buy the building.
Ledic in November told 糖心Vlog传媒 costs for repair and concerns with building codes prevented him from finalizing the deal.
Monson said he has owned the building for about 15 years, and in that time he has made improvements including:
- Roof repair.
- Basement clean-up.
- Removal of debris, water-damaged flooring, suspended ceiling, partition walls and other materials.
- Window replacement.
- Window installation.
- Peaked roof installation.
- Exterior improvements.
- Installed new sidewalk.
- Other improvements.
A fire in the 1970s caused severe damage, which the previous owner never addressed, Monson said.
It was difficult to fix the building because Monson did not know what its use would be, he said. He stopped pursuing renovation because he had a string of interested buyers, none of whom worked out.
The building is a safety hazard that likely will collapse if nothing is done, Clippert said.
The rear exterior wall facing the Rock River was removed, the inside of the building has no structure and there are holes in the floor, Clippert said.
City council member Paul Benson at a special city council meeting Friday said he believed the city had made an effort to work with Monson.
Monson said he does not believe the city ever intended to help save the building, and it was nearly impossible to work with the city amicably.
The city uses industry standards to handle code enforcement, City Manager Mark Freitag said Friday.
For years, the city did a poor job enforcing building codes and keeping owners accountable. The city is at a point now where it has to say enough is enough, Freitag said.
Lack of action from the city in past years leaves property owners holding the bag, Monson said.
Monson does not plan to redevelop the property. He believes the city should have involved its economic development staff early in the process to discuss what could have been done at the site.
Clippert said Tuesday he was unaware if city staff or the ARISEnow group have any plans or wishes for the site.