TROY — The city of Troy’s court upheld a previous order that kept Tavern Building and the surrounding surface streets closed due to its imminent danger of collapse.
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The court denied the property owner’s request to hold off its order for repairs to the front of the building in consultation with the Miami County/Troy Chief Building Official (CBO) and the Troy Fire Chief, a spokesperson for the case said.
The repairs were to have been completed by Friday, July 7, 2023. After repairs were not made, the Chief Building Official, on Thursday, July 13, filed an Affidavit of Compliance that declared, “There is no safely feasible way to ‘shore up’ the north wall of the Tavern Building so that the Tavern Building is no longer ‘in imminent danger of collapse.’”
As a result, the CBO order requiring the Tavern Building owner to abate the nuisance structure remained in effect.
West Main Street from Cherry Street to Plum Street remained closed until the building adhered to repair orders that stabilized its structure from collapse.
The court also ordered that Structural Engineer Daniel Geers was to perform a review of all the structural engineering reports, along with inspecting the building. He was to then submit his opinions and analysis to the court. A timeline for the submission was yet to be established.
Miami County’s Chief Building Officer, Rob England, and Troy’s Fire Chief, Matthew Simmons, announced that West Main Street between Plum and Cherry Streets will be closed to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic, News Center 7 previously reported. The city said the closure was because both the CBO and fire chief said the Tavern Building was unsafe and dangerous.
Troy Mayor Robin Oda also released a statement following a Miami County Common Pleas Court judge’s ruling Friday about not ordering the immediate demolition of the Tavern Building.
“It is very concerning that the Court decided that our CBO and Fire Chief are not qualified to give us the best advice possible. Based on the June 16th inspection, we cannot in good conscience ignore their orders, since we know they are acting as neutral advisors to us with only Troy’s safety in mind. It’s truly regrettable that it’s come to this, but we have an absolute duty to err on the side of caution. I can only hope this decision is reconsidered as soon as possible but until then, we can no longer ignore the risks and leave a potentially unsafe situation.”
Both Simmons and England both signed a certification saying the building was “beyond repair and should be demolished as soon as possible.”