MOORESVILLE — For two-and-a-half years, the building that sits on corner of East Main Street and South Indiana Street in Mooresville has been vacant, badly damaged by a tornado that tore through the town. In that same time span, the building has passed through the hands of two owners; neither were able to secure a contractor to repair or demolish it. Councilman Shane Williams said that was his cue to get the city involved.
"I'm usually a private sector guy, but clearly, the owners couldn't take care of it. We, the city, had to do something," Councilman Williams said. "I'm tired of looking at that building. It needs to come down."
Back in March, the city stepped in with an unsafe building ordinance put forth by Councilman Williams. The first contractor they hired had to back out, but not before he did some work.
"The fire marshal was concerned about what he had done to the building," Councilman Williams said. That concern is what led to last Tuesday's closure of S. Indiana Street. It also led to the city enacting an emergency resolution to speed up the bidding process.
"We now have six contractors who've put in bids and if anybody else thinks they can do this job, we want them to reach out to Dave Moore, our public works director," Councilman Williams said. "I think that the town is doing what it can. I'm sorry it got delayed again but hopefully, we'll have a new contractor soon."
Regina Shelby is a downtown business owner. Her shop, Baggage & Boutique, is on the closed street.
"Them having to close the street because of the building being unsafe has definitely put a slump in our business," Shelby said. "I'm trying to put it out there that our businesses are still open and our shops are still open."
Shelby and the other downtown business owners have a vested interest in what happens with this demolition project
"This project not only affects our day-to-day business, but it also affects other things we have planned for the town. We have a street fair coming up September 17 that we need as a town. We also have Victorian Christmas we have every year in December. We need our town to feel safe to come to be part of that," Shelby said.
After two-and-a-half years of back and forth, Shelby says everyone needs to have confidence in whoever takes on the project next.
"Please be honest and upfront as to how you're going to do this job and how long it's going to take you to do the job," she said.
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