THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE ARTICLE BY JENNIFER BAILEY
DANVILLE — The city received 12 bids to demolish the 12-story Bresee Tower and former Vermilion County Courthouse Annex in the downtown area.
The bid opening was Wednesday afternoon with city staff and consultant Farnsworth Group.
Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said they’ll announce details hopefully today (Thurs Nov 7th).
A pre-bid meeting attracted about 40 to 50 people representing demolition and asbestos abatement contractors, according to Danville Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk.
A mandatory meeting and site visit for those interested in bidding highlighted items for the contractors to be aware of, Cronk said.
The demolition includes the one-story garage building addition on the back northeast corner of the city hall building next door at 17 W. Main St.
It houses the old boiler for the annex.
Associated asbestos abatement, demolition debris disposal and site restoration are included in the entire project.
Demolition is expected next year.
The Danville City Council set aside $4 million three years ago to tear down Bresee Tower and a handful of other buildings in the downtown area that are unsafe and need to be demolished.
Williams has said he hopes the Bresee demolition will cost the city $3 million or less and they’ll have $1 million left to tackle the other buildings.
Pieces of Bresee Tower have fallen through the years, which caused the closure of one lane of adjacent Main Street.
Williams has said too much time has passed to save the building.
The lot to be left over after the buildings are demolished will be kept as green space until an appropriate developer is found, Williams said.
Bresee Tower was built in 1917 as the First National Bank.
The classical revival-style tower has been vacant since the owners forced business tenants out and closed the building in 2005.
Potential development proposals through the years never materialized.
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