City officials say there still is no timeline to either save or demolish a downtown Galesburg building ravaged by fire in February.
An early-morning fire on Feb. 19 caused extensive structural and water damage of the 3-story building at 149-151 E. Main St. A day after the fire, the property owner and property management company made the decision to apply for an emergency demolition permit through the State of Illinois, in order to demolish the very top portion of the building for safety purposes.
Steve Gugliotta, director of Community Development, tells WGIL the owner and its insurance company continue to actively pursue a resolution to future of the property.
Gugliotta said the owner—61401 Galesburg, LLC of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina—has received multiple estimates for demolition and they are currently under review.
“They have an asbestos company lined up and will be conducting an inspection soon,” Gugliotta said. “There is no project timeline and no permits have been applied for at this time.”
The structure had two businesses on the first floor, and residential units on the second and third floors. Three individuals were present in the third-floor apartment unit at the time of the fire, and all self-evacuated. One occupant self-transported to the hospital and was treated for smoke inhalation. All tenants from the second-floor apartments also made it out of the building safely.
Businesses located on the street level were The Cutting Edge Salon and Main and Prairie Antiques and More.
Gugilotta said the property manager, listed as Minarsi W. Feszchak by the Illinois Secretary of State, will be reaching out to tenants to coordinate times next week for them to remove necessary personal items if they wish.
Galesburg City Manager Eric Hanson told WGIL earlier this week he expected the entire building to be demolished.
“We’re just waiting for the insurance company to finalize the details of what they plan to do. They have remained in contact with us, but it’s taken a little bit longer than we anticipated.
“I don’t think the building is savable at this point. One of our hopes and goals was always to save one or two of the floors, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. You just don’t replace buildings like that.”
