Committee hears plan to demolish city-owned former Masonic Temple; bids open tomorrow, funding partly uncertain

City Properties, Parks and Recreation Committee members discussed plans Feb. 10 to demolish the city-owned building at 107 Fifth Street, formerly the Masonic Temple, and reviewed procurement and funding steps before the full council considers legislation.

City Engineer Mike Tiedecki told the committee he had requested legislation that would allow the city to enter a contract for demolition and asked that the legislation carry emergency language “in order to commence with the contract to begin this as soon as possible.” He said the city will open bids for the demolition the next day and did not yet have contractor names or final costs because bids were still sealed. The committee was told the city’s engineer estimate is roughly $240,000–$250,000.

Tiedecki said the project is funded through city means but the city is seeking to use a portion of state funds if the State Historic Preservation Office signs a waiver. He said: “So if they sign the waiver, we're allowed to use that money. If they don't, we're still demolishing the building. It's just we we'd like to use that state money.” He added the administration planned to appeal the initial decision and expected to provide more information to the state office that week.

Committee members asked practical questions about schedule and procurement. A council member pointed out the state funding would require the building to be down by May 1 and asked if the contractor timeline allowed that; staff replied the contract documents had a required completion date in April and the contractor anticipated starting in March. The committee also noted municipal practice usually includes having a contract in hand before legislation to authorize a contract comes to the full council; staff said bids were being opened the next day at 10:00 a.m. after advertising for several weeks.

Given those timing and information gaps, committee members discussed options: bring the ordinance out of committee the same night (to proceed through the council schedule), wait for the signed waiver and the actual bid amounts, or hold a special committee meeting after bids are opened to see final figures. The chair proposed a short special meeting the following week if members preferred to see bid results before advancing legislation.

No formal vote was taken in committee on Feb. 10; the discussion produced direction to advertise, open bids and return with contract details. Committee members emphasized they wanted to review the contractor and final cost before final council action and noted the emergency clause request and the state-waiver uncertainty for funding.