| Church to be demolished |
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| News | |||
| Written by Brandon Steinert | |||
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 08:00 | |||
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The Miami County Commission on Thursday elected to stay the course and demolish the church at 316 N. Central St. in Hillsdale, despite potential buyer Dale Klaasmeyer’s proposal to repair the structure. Klaasmeyer intended to purchase the building from its original owner, John Patti of Chicago. Patti was notified of the building’s unsafe status and the commission’s intent to demolish it if nothing is done. Only days before the bid-letting date for the building’s destruction, Klaasmeyer demonstrated his desire to purchase the more than 100-year-old church, make it structurally sound and use it as a prop for his wife’s photography business. For some time, it seemed the commissioners were optimistic about his ambitions, but they decided to move forward with the structure’s removal, as it had already been deemed an unsafe structure and a public nuisance. The commission reasoned that the building is inherently an eyesore for Hillsdale, and one of Klaasmeyer’s goals was to keep the “rustic look,” and it would not be painted or made to look new. Klaasmeyer argued in his letter of intent that the building would be made safe and would not look worse than several other old buildings in the area. His plans did not fulfill the commissioners’ vision for the building, and they voted in favor of its destruction 4-1. “The town would look better if it were gone,” Commissioner Rob Roberts said. In other business at the Thursday afternoon meeting, the commission: Executed a construction engineering agreement between Miami County, the Kansas Department of Transportation and engineering consulting firm Delich, Roth and Goodwillie, PA for the John Brown Highway and Pressonville Road intersection project. The inspection services cost about $90,000. Work Session Earlier Thursday morning, the commission held their work session, when they heard from KDOT personnel about the K-68 corridor management plan, which the commission will consider signing today at 1 p.m. They also discussed the definition of agriculture and agritourism and where the line should be drawn between the two. Some said agritourism would be considered commercial if the primary use of the land is not for agriculture. The item will be discussed further in the coming weeks as county staff conducts research on how other entities have regulated agritourism.
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