Under the agreement, THPA bought the structures from owner 116 West Main Street and Randy Kimmel of Covington for an undisclosed price. The buildings include an 1841 structure, and another built in 1902. THPA agreed to make a series of repairs that the county chief building official Rob England said were required to make the structures safe.
If repairs to stabilize are not made by April 30, “the THPA shall demolish both the 1902 building and the 1841 building and remove all demolition debris from the premises no later than 30 days after the deadline (May 30),” the agreement states.
The buildings were damaged in a January 2020 tornado that swept through the downtown, and again in windstorms last spring.
The Troy Planning Commission and the city Board of Zoning Appeals approved a demolition permit for the structure in 2021, but their decisions were overturned by Judge Stacy Wall. The 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld that ruling.
THPA was busy this past week putting together a schedule to ensure it can meet the deadline, going through the buildings with an architect and structural engineer to assess them. The assessment is needed because the last one was about six months ago, said Ben Sutherly president of THPA.
The timeline then includes developing engineering plans in January and submission to the county and state for building department approvals. Hopes are that will have a 10-day turn around so required structural repairs can begin as early as mid-February. “It will be a sprint to the finish over those next 60 to 75 days,” Sutherly said. The settlement agreement said no extensions would be granted.
A good estimate on the cost of the required stabilization repairs is not yet available. The THPA is conducting a pledge drive for the project and will collect on pledges once “we have a good handle on costs,” Sutherly said.
An estimate today is seen as $400,000 on the low end and could reach up to $1 million, That high end would be a surprise, but THPA will be prepared to meet that challenge if needed, he said.
“We are going to have a very aggressive final stage of fund raising. We have had the money to buy the building and have several hundred thousand dollars lined up (through pledges) specifically for repairs for the building. We are confident we will get that fund raising wrapped up in next six to eight weeks,” he said.
THPA is working with The Troy Foundation to set up a fund for the project. Support so far has come through direct monetary support from individuals and organizations and in-kind support from architecture and structural engineering. “It is going to take both of those to make the project work,” Sutherly said. Anyone interested in learning more about supporting the project can visit www.thpatroy.org.
As part of the settlement, the parties agreed to releasing a joint statement. That statement had not been issued as of late last week. A draft of the statement was included with the settlement filing, saying in part, the parties thought the agreement “best serves the public in that it keeps the safety of Miami County citizens at the forefront of all decision, resolves years of litigation and creates a concrete timeline to reopen Main Street,”
Neither Kimmel or his lawyers have commented.
Main Street in front of the building has been closed since early summer following findings by England and Troy’s fire chief that the structure posed a threat of collapse.
Sutherly said Judge Wall played a key role in reaching a settlement.
“I think all of the parties want to commend Judge Wall. This resolution would not have come about without her bringing all the parties together and helping to clarify the issues that needed to be resolved. She did that very masterfully,” he said, “At the end of the day, it is so much more important for our community for all of us to come together and do the right thing.”
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