Long anticipated work to remove a fire-ravaged, empty apartment building on West State begins today.
Jaren Industries is taking down the building at a cost of $350-thousand to the city of Jacksonville.
The abandoned Cherry Apartments caught fire in mid January, and it’s close proximity to downtown and a new Morgan County building has made demolition a high priority.
A lengthy legal process is over, and Jacksonville community development director Brian Nybeg says the building demolition starts this morning. But he says the work will take some time.
He expects the project to take 3 to 4 weeks.
The building butts up against the new county probation department building and coroner’s office, which has been off limits since the fire.
Nyberg says workers will try to clear the opposite side first.
He says the slow pace of the project is prompted by the close proximity to nearby buildings.
Nyberg says Jaren Industries retested the materials on its own dime to get the asbestos out before today. He says workers will work at wetting the material to keep the dust down.
Nyberg hopes the city can recover at least a portion of the cost through the owners. The fire that destroyed the building has been investigated as an intentionally set fire.