DAYTON — A woman said she will lose her business if she can’t convince the City of Dayton to lift its “vacate premises” order.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, city inspectors closed the E 1st Street parking garage several weeks ago due to structural concerns.
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However, the closure has affected the two first-floor retail stores, Lisse Beauty Bar and Rabbit Hole Books.
Jane Scott owns Lisse Beauty Bar. She’s worried that she won’t have the money or stylists to reopen.
“I’ve been restless, sleepless nights, yeah, and I mean, I just don’t know what to do,” Scott said.
The salon has been in downtown Dayton for eight and a half years. Scott has fought through the COVID-19 pandemic and thought things were looking up for business.
Then a tiny, incendiary fire changed everything.
“Yes, I found it,” Scott said.
She said someone set a fire in a trash can in the garage entrance area in early February.
>>RELATED: Local bookstore remains closed after fire set on purpose, fire officials say
The fire burned itself out before firefighters arrived.
Scott said they saw concerns in the garage and passed them on to city inspectors. Next thing she knew, temporary condemnation notices went up on her doors and windows.
“Says this building has been declared a nuisance, and I say, ‘Are you kidding me?’ and he says no, ‘This building is going to fall,’” Scott said.
This has been going on for more than three weeks.
Scott said the building owner had two different structural engineers do surveys, and they declared the building safe.
“And for them to not care about a couple of small businesses, we’ve lost enough small businesses downtown, and to them, they don’t care,” Scott said.
She added that the city said they’re concerned about loose bricks falling off the facade.
Scott said she asked for pedestrian walkways with scaffolding to allow safe passage for her customers.
“Absolutely a nightmare. My business has totally, I mean, it’s been destroyed,” Scott said.
She said the building owner now has a contractor ready to add mortar and tuckpoint any loose bricks on the façade.
The owner could reportedly complete the repairs in two days, but must get a permit from the city to do the work.
Scott is worried that the permit won’t be granted anytime soon.
We will continue to follow this story.
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