Jefferson City to demolish building on Capitol Avenue deemed unsafe
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The historic home that once stood at 401 Capitol Ave. in Jefferson City will no longer stand after Thursday.
According to Housing and Property Supervisor with the City of Jefferson, Dave Helmick, after inspecting the home on Wednesday, the city deemed it was too dangerous to be kept. Helmick said the city was first notified of the dangerous conditions on Monday.
When crews came back out to inspect the home using a drone on Wednesday, they found its conditions to be a public safety hazard. Helmick said recent storms and windy conditions across Mid-Missouri contributed to the deteriorating conditions of the home.
"These properties had been living on borrowed time for quite a while and you know, the council certainly was aware of that which is why we tried to progress as quickly as we could to get these properties in developers hands," said Ward 4 Councilman Chris Leuckel.
Bricks seen lying around the exterior of the home, broken windows and cracked walls made up much of the home on Wednesday.
A large portion of the roof became airborne during the windy conditions and could be seen lying in the back of the home. Helmick said with more storms possibly on the way, the city thought it was in the public's best interest to tear it down.
"You put wind behind something like this and you have somebody that's walking by or a vehicle or somebody that's over at the church across the street and it could be a very bad situation," Helmick said.
The home was deemed dangerous in 2021 and a structural evaluation in 2022 confirmed it was unstable, according to a press release from the city. The Jefferson City Council approved the sale of the home to GKS Management in December along with six other properties.
ABC 17 News viewed the property in May which had noticeable water damage, a hole in the roof, holes in the flooring, animal waste and piles of garbage. A report from the city of Wednesday shows the conditions drastically deteriorated since then.
The report states many of the floors observed this week had worsened "to the point where they could fail under normal foot traffic" and many of the ceilings and walls showed signs of severe water infiltration.
"All the interior coverings are covered in water. Everything's soaked, there's black mold, there's delamination of the all the materials inside," Helmick said. "There's also things like human waste and animal waste from previous people and animals that were in there."
Helmick said he expects the city will start demolition of the home around 8 a.m. Thursday.
Katrina Farrow has been living in Jefferson City for 25 years. She said while she's understanding of the need for the home to be demolished for the safety of the community, she's hopeful a piece of the land will be carried on.
"Whether you know, it's a historical landmark that they could probably utilize some of those materials rather than just demolishing it completely," Farrow said.
The city plans to turn the area into a green space at first, Helmick said.
