A divided Danville City Council has approved an intergovernmental agreement between the city and Danville Township to demolish the latter’s former headquarters.
Eight aldermen voted in favor of the agreement, while five aldermen (Tricia Teague, Mike O’Kane, Brenda Brown, Heidi Pertell and Robert Williams) voted against it. Alderman Mike Puhr abstained because he is a member of the Masonic Temple, which is considering acquiring the empty lot once the building is torn down.
Brown and Williams argued that there are plenty of abandoned houses that the city needs to focus on before the township building, and O’Kane added that the structure is not in as bad as shape.
“That building’s not going to fall down on anybody right now,” he says. “I just don’t think it’s necessary right now. In the future, if somebody comes up with the money, I don’t have an argument with it. Right now, there are too many things that should be in front of them.”
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. defended the agreement, saying that the building needs to come down now so there aren’t any problems in the future.
“We’re not going to be in the business of tearing down any people’s messes, but the problem is that the township–they’ll never have the money to do anything about it, so either we have to address it, or it doesn’t get done,” he explains.
Danville Township will pay for $50,000 of the demolition cost, which is expected to be at least $200,000. The building has sat empty since the township offices were moved to Tilton in 2019.
