Officials try to determine club's owner

CELINA - Sidewalk and parking spaces remain barricaded in front of the former Illusions Nite Club on Main Street - much to the chagrin of downtown merchants - as the building's ownership continues to be investigated.

The section has been closed for at least three weeks to prevent injuries if buckling bricks fall to the ground. City officials have deemed the building dangerous due to exterior structural problems.

"Other than trying to protect pedestrians, we can't touch the building until we get an ownership acknowledgment, and then we can move forward," mayor Jeff Hazel said this week at a city council meeting. "We are kind of stuck. I talked to a lot of the downtown merchants, as well, who are not happy about that, but they'd be less happy if a brick fell on them, so we do have to keep them safe."

City law director George Moore told the newspaper the city will take action once it confirms the building's owner. Officials believe JP Morgan Chase Bank now holds the deed. According to fire chief Doug Wolters, the building was previously owned by David and Georgia Woodard.

After access is gained to the building, city officials will determine the extent of the problem, Moore said. If deemed an emergency situation, officials can demand the building be repaired or vacated and demolished, with costs charged as a lien against the deed.

Repair costs could be assessed to the tax duplicate, levied as a special tax or recovered by lawsuit, according to a city ordinance.

"We've got a lot of stuff coming up for the summer months and that would be really nice to get that (taken care of)," city councilman June Scott said at the meeting.

Safety service director Tom Hitchcock said the issue was handed over to the city legal department.

"We sent out an unsafe building notice to each of the then titled property owners. I think that 60-day period is up around the end of May. That's something that we're working on," Moore told Scott.  

It's been a complicated tussle determining ownership because one of the parties involved claimed bankruptcy, Hazel said.

Councilman Mark Fleck asked about the condition of the building.

"Was it just the face of the building, the front part bad, or is the whole building bad?" he asked.

Hitchcock said he isn't sure.

"We do not know yet because we have not been able to have access to the building because it's private property," he added.

Hitchcock said the city currently cannot touch the building or remove the bricks. City officials can only use a barricade to keep the public safe.

"It's still better than bricks falling on somebody," Fleck said about the barricade.

City council in early 2012 passed an ordinance that allows Hitchcock to act as building inspector and deem structures dangerous and unfit, but only if ownership is known. He can then order repairs or demolition.

The ordinance, which includes an appeal process, explicitly lists several defects that would constitute a dangerous and unfit structure, such as leaning or buckling walls; damage by decay, deterioration, fire, wind or other elements; and unfit conditions for habitation.