City mandates inspection of fire-damaged building

The city has given the owner of a building heavily damaged by a major fire in Vandalia’s downtown business district two weeks to find out whether any of the structure can be saved.

It also pushed for the timely cleanup of two other buildings that were destroyed by that fire in the early morning hours of Feb. 23.

A lengthy discussion on the issue during Monday’s meeting of the Vandalia City Council began with the city’s code official, Keith Meadows, saying that he had sent a letter informing owners of the Donaldson Carpet, Gathe’s Tax and Accounting Service, and Gerkin’s State Farm Agency that they needed to apply for demolition permits within two weeks, and that they had 30 days after receiving that permit to demolish and cleanup their properties.

Meadows said he issued those letters after researching the International Construction Council Code. In reading that code, Meadows said, he determined that the building owned by Dennis Gerkin needs to be demolished.

“In my opinion, it’s in imminent danger of collapse,” Meadows said. “The code is very specific…about the amount of damage (to a building).”

He said he sent letters to the property owners “before the street was open (to traffic), and I’m even more concerned now.”

Gerkin, however, said Dennis Grubaugh is interested in building the building, along with other three properties in that half-block, and that Grubaugh wants to rehabilitate his building.

“Dennis has all of the interest and expertise to restore the building,” Gerkin said.

“He (Meadows) has not inspected the building personally,” Gerkin said, adding that an architect brought to town by Vandalia Main Street recently issued the opinion that a part of the building could be saved.

That architect, Gerkin said, told him “the entire front wall is still intact. The main damage is to the one-story addition in the back.

“I don’t know why there’s the push (to get this done so quickly),” he said. “I don’t know what the motivation is, other than following the code.”

Gerkin said receiving the letter from Meadows “alarmed me,” noting that he thought the city would give him some time because of the building’s history. “It’s probably the oldest building you’ve got downtown.”

Grubaugh said he has worked on a lot of older buildings, and he is of the opinion that those types of old structures are held together with floor joists. “Most of the floor joists are still intact.”

Mayor Rick Gottman asked Gerkin if he planned to have a structural architect look at the building. Gerkin responded, “If I have to.”

Alderman Bret Brosman said he supports saving at least some of the structure, if that’s possible.

“I guess it really boils down to a safety issue, but if we could save the façade, that would be a wonderful thing to retain for our community,” Brosman said.

Meadows said that Gerkin had earlier talked about trying to salvage some of the building, such as the basement, but the ICC code doesn’t allow for such action.

Also, he said, the code is specific on how to deal with damage of this type. “The code doesn’t give me the luxury of dealing with phrases like ‘maybe’ (part of it could be salvaged).

Gottman asked other city officials to offer their opinions.

John Moyer, director of public works, said he believes the three properties need to be cleaned up as soon as possible, to avoid a situation like when the Evans Hotel burned years ago. Then, he said, the rubble from the fire remained at the site for an extended period of time.

Asked his opinion, Fire Chief Merle Adermann said, “When I look at the building from the east, it looks to me like the front of the building is start to lean out.

“What you have there, I think, is an accident waiting to happen,” Adermann said.

He also said he doesn’t believe that an architect is qualified to give an accurate assessment on the stability of a structure.

“An architect is an architect, a structural engineer is a structural engineer,” Adermann said.

An issue complicating the matter is that Grubaugh is currently working on a project in Patoka, and said he needs to complete that project before starting on the Gerkin building. He estimated that he would begin working back in town within a week and a half or two weeks.

The council mandated that Gerkin have a structural engineer look at the building as soon as possible and have a report from that engineer to the city by April 19, the date of the next council meeting.