The Hopkinsville Fire Department has deemed the historical Phoenix building on the corner of 9th and Main streets, as dangerous and unsafe to enter, according to chief Steve Futrell.
The decision was made after city officials hired an engineer to check out the property damages and the city will give the property owner 90 days to declare how it will remedy the building’s structural issues.
“At the second floor we observed numerous ceiling/roof leaks and decayed roof framing. The floors exhibit severe ‘waviness’ with floor settlement in several locations. There are numerous exterior and interior wall cracks (most walls have plaster) and signs of separation between walls and floors,” stated the structural engineer in his report.
Due to furniture, the engineer was unable to inspect much of the first floor, but he did inspect the space from the outside. In his report, he also stated that spaces on the first floor were collapsed and/or had sloping floors in several vacant units.
According to Futrell, some sections of the main floor recently fell into the basement and became visible through broken window glass in the section that previously housed Little Chef and other restaurants.
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“We are checking the building daily to try to ensure no one is entering the building. We have the doors marked and some taped off,” said Hopkinsville Fire Chief Steve Futrell.
There is still one portion of the building that is occupied, but the occupant has been given 45 days to vacate the structure.
Futrell claims that it is unclear whether the building can be saved and that a specialist would need to examine the building in order to make a plan and calculate the cost of the damages or renovations.
According to Futrell, the current property owner, Bobo Cravens, now lives in Lexington, but his son, Al Cravens, has been in contact with the city about the engineer’s report.
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