FIRE-DAMAGED BUILDINGS DECLARED PUBLIC NUISANCES

Cape Girardeau officials have put the owners of three recently fire-damaged buildings on notice -- repair the structures or tear them down.

Or we will. And then we'll bill you for it.

The buildings, including the old Kidd Oil building at 300 N. Main St. that is now owned by the Boyd Gaming Group, have been declared public nuisances by the city. The property owners have 30 days to remodel or tear the buildings down, or the city will tear them down and then tax bill the owners for the costs of demolition.

The Boyd-owned building, the white, brick building at 300 N. Main St., was damaged by fire May 17. Boyd bought the property when it hoped to build a riverboat casino along the Mississippi River.

A one-story residence at 1725 David St., owned by rental company Cabin Fever Inc., caught fire April 19. A two-story house at 512 S. Pacific, in a neighborhood with a number of boarded-up houses, was damaged by fire the next day. That home is owned by Susan Palmer.

Fire officials have not determined the causes of any of the fires.

Ivan Irvin, the Century 21 agent handling the property for Las Vegas-based Boyd, said the building on North Main Street will be torn down within the next few weeks. Irvin said no one knows how the building caught fire. He said there was no power to the building and that there was nothing inside.

The other property owners could not be reached for comment.

Cape Girardeau Housing Assistance coordinator Stephen S. Williams oversees the condemnation procedure. Williams said the owner of the South Pacific Street home also plans to demolish the building, but the owners of the David Street home are planning to remodel.

A visit to the house on David Street showed the work is already in progress with new windows, new siding and a large, metal trash receptacle sitting full in the driveway.

Unsafe for habitation

The three homes, however, were not declared public nuisances because of any lack of action, Williams said. It's the city's procedure to inspect homes after a fire. The buildings, in this case, were deemed unsafe and unfit for habitation.

"After the fire, we did the inspections and then put the notice in the paper and sent out courtesy letters," Williams. "That gives the owners 30 days to bring the structures up to city code or demolish them."

After the 30 days are up, the city will inspect the buildings again. If the homes have not been repaired or torn down, then the city is legally required to have a public hearing after another 21-day notice.

At that hearing, the parties appear before the building supervisor, Gerald Johnson. The homeowners then are given the opportunity to explain their plans, and the supervisor can give a time extension for no less than 30 days.

If a property is abandoned, the city can seek bids for demolition. The homeowner is then tax-billed. There are currently 22 buildings on the city's condemnation list awaiting action.