MARQUETTE HOTEL CONDEMNATION UNDER WAY

Carol Bullock said she was surprised to learn that her family's old Marquette Hotel had been condemned by the city, especially since she had been working to clean up the area.

City inspectors have posted notices of condemnation declaring the Marquette Hotel unfit for occupation. The Cape Girardeau City Council approved the condemnation process for the building at Broadway and Fountain streets on June 5.

Bullock, of Kensington, Md., learned about the condemnation notice Monday night. "I'm a little surprised but not shocked," she said. "I thought this might come down the road if I didn't comply with the requests."

A contractor Tuesday boarded up windows and hammered plywood to canopy overhangs on the building in efforts to secure it.

Bullock said she has been working to clear the property in the past two weeks. She has asked Tom M. Meyer, a real estate agent, to help make the building more secure. "I've been completing the checklist like they asked me to," she said of letters sent to her by city inspectors. "The word condemned was never used."

Some of the requests were simply cosmetic and would have detracted from the property, estimated to be worth $700,000. So instead of removing the marquees, Bullock paid for repairs to them.

"If you look at them, they are anchored to terra cotta, and that would be destroying the building" to have them removed, she said.

Thad Bullock, her father, had owned the building from 1969 until his death last year. Now the property is owned by her mother, Ruby, but Carol Bullock has been maintaining the land.

The six-story building was built in 1928 and has been vacant since 1981. The Missouri Division of Health shut down the building in 1971 for safety reasons.

Although the city has begun the condemnation process, a sale is pending, said a representative of Century 21 Ashland Realty. Agents have been working with a Texas businessman interested in developing the property.

Century 21 Ashland Realty had worked with Thad Bullock to sell the building, but a contract with that company has run out, Carol Bullock said. Signs for the company were removed from the building Tuesday.

Bullock said she often gets calls from real estate companies saying another person is interested in buying the property, but few have the money for the sale, she said. "People are always interested in the hotel."

The city is also interested in getting the property cleaned up. City inspectors have sent a courtesy letter to Bullock saying that the building is unfit for residents and should be repaired or demolished, said Steve Williams, housing assistance coordinator for the city. He also handles condemnation proceedings.

In the condemnation process, property owners have 30 days to respond to a certified letter announcing that action will be taken if the property isn't repaired.

Property owners are given another 30 days to show that they have made some visible repairs or that the building is being torn down. Another meeting is then set with the city building inspector and property owners for inspection with a 21-day wait before any action is taken. After that meeting, the city inspector must decide whether to let the repairs continue or demolish the building.

Notices must be posted and published in newspapers during the process, Williams said. During that process, any interested party or property owner may come forward to explain what condition the building is in and plans for repairs, Williams said.

Often during the condemnation process the building is sold.

"We don't want to tear the building down," Williams said. "We would rather see it stand, but if not the city is in the position to remove it."

Another large building, old St. Francis Hospital at Good Hope and Pacific streets, was condemned two years ago and is scheduled for demolition this summer.

Had the Marquette or old St. Francis been purchased and not sat vacant for a decade or longer, condemnation might not have been necessary, Williams said. "If something had happened before they got into that state, they could possibly have been saved," he said.

Council members breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday night when they approved a contract for asbestos removal and demolition of old St. Francis. Mutterings of "finally" came from Mayor Al Spradling III and councilmen as the resolution was read. It passed unanimously.

A contract for $725,000 was awarded to Ahrens Contracting Inc. of East St. Louis, Ill., for asbestos removal and demolition of the building. Of that amount, the city was awarded $250,000 through a community development block grant. The city will pay another $150,000 for the work. The Phillips Co. of Little Rock, Ark., which purchased the property in April 1999, will pay $325,000.

Other bids submitted:

* J&S Companies of St. Louis, $843,301.

* Nip Kelley Equipment Co. of Cape Girardeau, $1,338,000.

* Dore & Associates of Bay City, Mich., $854,800.

Councilman Richard "Butch" Eggimann said the asbestos removal was is one part of the project, "but it's wonderful to get the first step out of the way."

Crews could begin working as early as Aug. 1 with a completion date near the first of October.

Anyone entering the hospital building must wear protection asbestos contaminants. "We had to wear suits and respirators just to go in and look around," said Williams.

Mead Environmental Associates Inc. of Cape Girardeau will remove the asbestos. Ahrens Contracting will demolish the building. The company is currently working on demolition of the old city jail in St. Louis.

Cape Girardeau officials have been working for nearly two years to raze the vacant building. During that process, the Phillips Co. bought the property and plans to build a 48-unit apartment complex on the site.