After demolition of a fire-ravaged building and months of repair work to adjoining structures, a now vacant Main Street property in the heart of downtown Galesburg is ready for future development.
The two-story building at 140-144 E. Main St. was empty when a fire destroyed its interior on April 8, 2014. The building sat vacant until the City of Galesburg the city purchased the property from the Knox County Trustee for approximately $1,700 in December 2019.
Neidig Trucking & Excavating of Astoria started demolition of the building on March 18 of this year, however construction crews remained on scene for several months to repair occupied businesses to the east (156 East Restaurant) and west (Merle Norman Studio).
Until recently, the sidewalk in front of the property remained closed and a tarp blocked the front of the site.
Steve Gugliotta, director of Community Development, tells WGIL, “The City owns the property and it will be available if a developer should propose a viable project.”
Gugliotta said the east exterior wall of 144 E. Main St. shared a common load bearing wall with 156 E. Main St. While the wall remained structurally sound both before and after demolition, Gugliotta noted it did require some repairs to infill openings and some roofing work in order to apply a new exterior finish.
The west wall of 140 E. Main St. shared a common brick wall with 138 E. Main St. and needed structural work done to adequately tie the wall and roof framing of 138 E. Main St. prior to demolition. The exterior wall of 138 E. Main St. required some masonry work and roofing work in order to apply the new exterior finish.
Gugliotta said after the building was demolished, a storm sewer inlet was installed on the lot to collect excess rainwater, a project that required portions of existing concrete sidewalk to be removed to connect to the storm sewer system and new concrete sidewalk poured.
Final cost of the demolition project remains undetermined, according to Gugliotta. He said the city paid for the demolition work and installation of exterior finishes to the walls of the adjacent buildings.
“As for the final demolition expense, we will be communicating with the demolition contractor on the final invoice amount as some of the expenses built into the bid were not used,” Gugliotta said.
Originally constructed in the 1890s, the building housed a grocery store, shoe shop and several bakeries over the years. CASA of Knox County also operated out of the building until it moved to the Bondi Building in 2012.