By Sam Wildow
TROY — The Troy Planning Commission voted 4-3 on Monday to approve a Historic District application for demolition for the downtown property located at 112-118 W. Main St., also referred to as the IOOF building.
Planning Commission members Ed Westmeyer, James McGarry, Mayor Robin Oda, and Director of Public Service and Safety Patrick Titterington voted in favor of the application for demolition. Chairman Alan Kappers, along with Planning Commission members Sandy Ehrlich and N. Lawrence Wolke, voted to reject the application.
Kappers opened the meeting with explaining there would be no public comment permitted at the meeting, stating they heard public comment at the last meeting and that it is not procedure for the Planning Commission to accept public comment. Kappers also noted the Planning Commission has taken into the consideration the other letters, emails, and phone calls they have received on the subject.
Kappers also criticized the reuse plan of the application, saying “the minimal reuse plan submitted with the application” was inadequate and grounds for the application being denied.
Troy Development Director Tim Davis said the city had rejected previous reuse plans submitted for the site, including a proposed parking lot, explaining the current reuse plan of laying down seed and straw would be temporary until the site could be redeveloped.
Westmeyer made the motion to approve the application for demolition with a number of conditions, including the restoration of the site with seed and straw over sod until the property owner can come back before the Planning Commission with further requested site improvements, as well as conditions to salvage architectural materials of historical value and conditions to protect the neighboring buildings, particularly if they share common walls with the structure.
The approval of the demolition application is not a guarantee the building will be demolished, but the building is under adjudication orders from the Miami County Department of Development to resolve “unsafe conditions related to public safety.” Last week, the Troy-Miami County Public Library Board of Trustees voted to make an offer on the building. According to the Troy-Miami County Public Library, the offer was made on Friday and the library did not get a response.
The owner, Randy Kimmel of 116 West Main LLC, first filed an application for demolition in September 2020 due to the costs it would take to repair the building after it suffered tornado damage in January 2020. The demolition application was tabled a number of times, including twice for purchase agreements that later fell through due to a lack of funding that could be secured to repair the building.
The cost of the repairs and renovation at one point estimated at $4.1 million in March 2021, according to the city staff report. The cost of repairs and renovation stated last month was approximately $3.2 million. According to an estimate from Bruns General Contracting, the cost to meet the minimum building code standards would be approximately $659,788.
The building is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are placards from the Troy Historical Society, posted to the building in 1969, which state parts of the building had been a part of Troy’s courthouses and jails.
The original structure was constructed in 1841, and housed Troy’s fourth courthouse until 1888. The back end of the original structure is still intact. There was a partial demolition of the north section of the building in 1902 that included the addition constructed to the north, east, and west of the original building. The building has a marker from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) dating back to 1902.
