To the editor:

Imagine you owned a historical home on a busy street in Troy. A storm caused some repairable damage but until your home was repaired the sidewalk was closed and people had to walk out into the street to get by. How long to you believe the City of Troy would allow this condition to exist? A month? Maybe two?

In the case of the historic IOOF/Tavern building at 112-118 West Main Street, the City has allowed this condition to exist for over 2.5 YEARS.

To summarize, the building was damaged by the January 2020 tornado. The owner admittedly received money to repair the building but instead chose to demolish it. The Troy Historical Preservation Alliance fought to save the building and the issue made its way to the Troy Board of Zoning Appeals who narrowly (4 to 3) approved the demolition process. THPA and others appealed this decision and the issue then went to the Miami County Common Pleas Court where a Judge recently struck down the demolition permit finding that the Troy Board of Zoning Appeals did not follow Troy’s zoning codes.

So, 33 months after the tornado, the IOOF/Tavern Building remains as is. The roof is damaged, the sidewalk is still closed, people have to walk in the street, and 7 badly needed parking spaces are unavailable. For reasons unknown to the public, this particular owner is getting preferential treatment. And, the City of Troy having already spent thousands of your tax dollars to defend their flawed decision in Court now apparently want to spend even more tax dollars on another appeal. They are so dogged in their determination to knock down this historical building that one might think there is gold under that building and The City of Troy owns the mineral rights.

Enough is enough. The City needs to use existing code to force the owner to repair the storm damage and at least bring the building up to the condition that it was pre-storm. Then the owner can sell the building and hopefully the next owner will appreciate history and bring the building back to its former glory as has happened all over downtown.

There is a City Council meeting on Monday, October 31st – time yet to be determined. Please attend this meeting and say no to wasting tax dollars.

Martin Stewart

Troy