Demolition of the former Ace Hardware building began today in downtown International Falls.
An emergency meeting Friday of the International Falls City Council resulted in the city ordering that the owners of the building, a corporation headed by Richard and Bob Peterson of the Falls, demolish the building at their own expense within five days.
The order was needed for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to allow the material to be placed in the city’s demolition dump site.
The council voiced concern that the building, destroyed by an early morning fire May 23, may pose a safety risk and an eye sore as thousands of residents and visitors gather for July 2 and July 4 festivities.
At Friday’s meeting, Phil Miller, attorney for the corporation, offered a proposal in which the corporation would accept a low bid of $35,300 to tear down the structure. Once razed, the corporation would turn the deed for the property over to the city.
Miller noted that while the corporation did not have insurance on the building valued at just less than $60,000, it is offering much more toward demolition of the building than the standard insurance coverage would have provided for demolition.
“The corporation’s officers have stepped up to the plate and offered more than twice the cost insurance would have paid,” Miller told the council.
But Falls Mayor Shawn Mason remains adamant that the city’s taxpayers would not pay for demolition, nor the licensed contractor needed to load the material into trucks.
Fire Chief Jerry Jensen explained that a licensed abatement contractor will be needed to load the material into huge garbage bags placed inside trucks and be hauled and deposited into the city’s demo site.
See Wednesday's Journal for more details and photos of the demolition.
