By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – The Sugar Creek Packing Plant and the Havco building just south of downtown Bloomington are set to be demolished.
The city council unanimously approved the $245,000 bid from Stark Excavating to tear the two buildings down at its meeting Monday night.
Assistant city manager Steve Rasmussen said the demolition will remove some blighted properties.
“As you come into the city both on Main or on East street, there’s a great deal of property down there that if it was owned by somebody else, we would ask that it be condemned and demolished,” Rasmussen said.
The Havco building was originally set for demolition in April 2013, but City Manager David Hales said the city got into a cost dispute with the contractor.
“Unfortunately, we got into a situation where the contractor ran into asbestos and other contaminants,” Hales said.
The city eventually settled with the contractor after a lawsuit was filed. The Havco building at 401 S. Prairie St. was formerly used by a heating and cooling company even though it was originally built to be a meat packing plant.
The Sugar Creek Packing Plant at 412 East St. was purchased by the city council for $250,000 in August 2014. The city council approved the purchase then by a 5-3 vote.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
