KCRag Forum

A building partially collapsed Wednesday morning at Missouri Avenue and Campbell Street.

grovester wrote:Wish I was an engineer.

taxi wrote:Word on the street is that City building inspectors have decided this building must be demolished immediately. I know it's rough, but I doubt such drastic measures are necessary. Please, fellow raggers, let's mobilize to save this building. Shirley, there's something that can be done. At the least, it can be stabilized (like the Cosby Hotel) until a more thorough and less brash assessment can be made.
HELP!

FangKC wrote:I drove by this morning and they were removing the corner of the building on the third floor on a part of the building where the facade had not collapsed. I don't know if this means they are demolishing the building, or just removing sections of the facade that are not stable with the intent on rebuilding the facade later.

...

In an email sent Wednesday night, KCMO Communications Director Chris Hernandez informed media that the building had been declared an emergency because of the “immediate threat of further collapse and imminent danger to the health, safety, and welfare of the public.” The specific issues cited in the decision included wet rot deterioration of the floors, the partial collapse, and the area of masonry being “severely out of plumb” and on the verge of collapse.

The city announced on Thursday morning that demolition prep work was already underway. Additionally, the city indicated that the property had been the subject of three property nuisance cases since 2008. The first occurred in June of 2008, and was related to water being diverted onto a neighboring property. That case was closed in July of 2009. The second case opened in June of 2013 and initially involved trash and weeds, but an initial inspection uncovered 15 further violations – including not structurally sound, rotting boards, peeling paint, ceiling in disrepair, and floor in disrepair. After multiple summons and callbacks, the violations were ultimately abated and the case was closed in November of 2015. The third case, first related to trash and broken windows but later expanded to include a collapsed retaining wall, was opened in February of 2016. That case was still pending at the time of the collapse, with a court date scheduled for August 4, 2016.

...

taxi wrote:The owner is a slumlord. Many people have tried to buy that building, all with the intentions of saving it. He did the same thing about 15 years ago, when the parapet on the top of the building across from Garrozo's on the NW corner of Harrison and Missouri collapsed. He was historically spent nothing on any of his buildings, unless forced to. He should be in jail. No one in the neighborhood who knows him believes anything he says.

taxi wrote:Ben Sundemeier (R.I.P.) bought it and did an excellent rehab.

smh wrote:

taxi wrote:Ben Sundemeier (R.I.P.) bought it and did an excellent rehab.

It is a beautiful rehab. I would really like to purchase (or at least inspect) 912 E Missouri. My untrained eye suggests the lean in its balconies is growing more pronounced. I fear its days are numbered.

flyingember wrote:

smh wrote:

taxi wrote:Ben Sundemeier (R.I.P.) bought it and did an excellent rehab.

It is a beautiful rehab. I would really like to purchase (or at least inspect) 912 E Missouri. My untrained eye suggests the lean in its balconies is growing more pronounced. I fear its days are numbered.

I've seen a lot of buildings where the balconies or deck leans and the building is sound, they just cheaped out on the hardware that connects the two.