The area in front of this downtown building has been blocked to protect the public in case the building’s facade should fall.

Patricia Rengifo
Hamburg Reporter

The city is pursuing steps to take care of dangerous buildings. Mayor Cathy Crain took steps authorized by the Iowa Code to begin the process for a building at 1113 Main St.

According to Crain, as well as others who have inspected the building, it has unsafe exterior walls, crumbling support structures, unsafe roof, broken windows, unlocked doors, and dangerous decorative structures, including a large cornice, flashing and metal siding.

The site been inspected by the city’s engineers as well as other contractors and deemed unsafe.

Steve Perry, the city engineer, said, from looking at the building, he estimates the northwest corner has moved “maybe six inches and is starting to rotate and fall away from the building.”

Crain said she is concerned it poses a real threat for public safety as well as for the other buildings nearby.

If the building were to fall, it could damage the common wall with the next door building and on down the line.

The common walls between the properties only have a soft brick inside of them with mortar that easily erodes.

She had city attorney T.J. Patterman draft a letter giving the building’s owner, Don Kurtzer, 30 days from the day he received the letter to fix the building or else the city will take steps to do so and charge the cost to Kurtzer. The papers were served on April 25.

The building in question has been under the city’s radar in the past.

The city took Kurtzer to court for this same property on Oct. 13, 2005. Kurtzer’s case was dismissed when he presented the court a letter written the previous day by then Hamburg Mayor Terry Holliman on behalf of the city of Hamburg.

”The mayor came over yesterday and inspected the building,”Kurtzer said.

Under the Hamburg city ordinance concerning “dangerous buildings,” the mayor is responsible for the enforcement.

For the city’s own information, Crain has had one contractor look at the site and give an estimate of how much it will cost to demolish �” $30-40,000.

If the building is demolished, the city wants to ensure the new sidewalks are not damaged in the process.

“I don’t want to see a bulldozer driving up on our new sidewalks,” council member Rhonda Lucas said.

In the meantime, to ensure public safety, the council decided to block off parking in front of the building as the large cornice could fall and injure a person or damage a car parked underneath.