The long saga over the crumbling Bresee Tower in downtown Danville could soon be coming to a conclusion.
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. told members of the city’s public services committee on Tuesday night that the city will likely head to court this spring to seize the building from its owners, Chris and Jeri Collins, and then work with Vermilion County officials to demolish the landmark Danville structure and the vacant Courthouse Annex next door.
Last week, a construction crew removed a transmitter tower from the top of the building that was owned by WAND-TV. Williams says there is now little the owners will likely do with it.
“The removal of the antenna is probably one of the last death knells to that building, because that means the people who own the building are now receiving no money at all, so there will be no incentive to do anything,” he explained.
Bresee was first built in 1918 for the First National Bank and was also the longtime home of WIAI radio. It has sat vacant for 15 years, with the exterior facade so badly deteriorating that the city has blocked off one lane of Main Street for the last two years so that debris does not fall on passing cars.
The mayor says the Collinses have not done anything except “be frustrating” with their plans for the building, and he says the time to save the building has long-since passed
The couple purchased Bresee from a preservation group in 2018 with the intention of turning it into a hotel. That same year, Vermilion County officials vacated the adjacent Annex due to structural concerns with the tower. The city received a $3.5 million estimate last year to demolish both buildings.
