Jefferson City Council votes to demolish Capitol Avenue building damaged in fire

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council voted unanimously on Monday to demolish a building that caught on fire last month.

The building at 403 E. Capitol Ave. suffered significant damage from the fire on Sept. 24.

The motion was presented by Ward 3 Councilman Scott Spencer, Ward 4 Councilman Ron Fitzwater seconded it after deliberation. Demolition can begin Wednesday or Thursday and will wrap up next week.

The council was already in the process of going through an evaluation of the properties on Capitol Avenue to determine which ones would need to be demolished.

During discussion, Housing Property Inspector Dave Helmick said it would have cost roughly $130,000 to repair just the upstairs of the building before the fire occurred.

Also during the meeting, the council unanimously approved authorizing a Transportation Alternatives Funds Program (TAP) grant with MoDOT for the construction of enhanced crosswalks at the intersection of the Greenway Trail at Southwest Boulevard and at Lafayette Street.

It was stated before the vote that 80% of the funding came from the state and the 20% from the city will come from the half-cent capital improvement sales tax.