The reality of D-day for the Palace/Wayne Hotel sank in deeper Tuesday as the Polk County Board of Commissioners awarded Widseth Smith Nolting & Associates the demolition consultant contract for $14,700. Two other firms, EAPC and ICON, both of Grand Forks, came in with bids of $18,000 and $18,200, respectively.
“WSN will get to work on preparing the contract right away this afternoon so it's ready for approval at next Tuesday's board meeting,” said County Coordinator Jack Schmalenberg.
The contract will include such services as pre-bid conferences, putting together pre-bid specifications and recommendations for the contractor, site management of the demolition process and other consulting duties from now until the demolition is complete. Some other reimbursable expenses will be involved as well, but Schmalenberg said he does not expect these to be significant.
“Hopefully, we don't run into too many unknowns,” he said. “It's been really difficult to get samples for asbestos testing with the condition of the building being what it is. But the Pollution Control Agency and other environmental professionals are working with us to help resolve these and other issues.”
“I think the body shop (JJ's Bodyshop, connected to the building via a common wall) is pretty much going to be the key thing here,” said Mike LaFrance of WSN. “In fact, this is the first order of business. We're getting our guys (structural engineers) from Grand Forks and Alexandria up here right away to look at it.”
Schmalenberg noted that there's a possibility that they'll put the project up for bids before the list of specifications is completed in order to save time, but that's still up in the air.
“We want to do it right because we don't want an injunction,” he said. “But we also want to do it in a timely fashion.”
Historical documentation
Last month, Crookston City Administrator Aaron Parrish helped fast track the project by declaring the building hazardous due to the floors caving in. The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, recognizing an emergency situation in terms of public safety, then waived the requirement to complete an environmental assessment worksheet. This saves the county both time and money.
Because the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a large component of the EAW is historical documentation. Auditor-Treasurer Jerry Amiot explained that there are different levels to Historic American Building Survey, the first involving high-quality large photographs as well as filming of the building. The county was required to do this for in the mid-1990s for the American Legion building on Second Street prior to its demolition, at a cost of approximately $5,800 for one of only a handful of companies that does this, he said.
Level 2 requires only 35 mm prints along with a history of the building.
“Because of high interest in the building, I think it might do us a lot of public good will to do at least a level 2 survey,” said Amiot. “For something like this, I expect the cost would be considerably less.”
Commissioners considered the proposal, but in the end decided it was not necessary, due in part to comments by Parrish.
“The Wayne Hotel is well documented from a historical perspective in local newspapers and other resources,” Parrish noted. “So you need to consider if you want to incur another expense.”
He added that in 1984, when the downtown business district was added to the National Register of Historic Places, a consultant was paid to assess several buildings, the Palace/Wayne one of them.
“I think if you have someone just compile this information and take some pictures, and assess the condition, you'd accomplish just as much as if you paid an outside company to do it,” said Parrish.
Amiot added that the Polk County Historical Society has much documentation on hand, and the board unofficially decided that Commissioner Warren Strandell, with his photographic skills, could take the photos.
Another look?
Schmalenberg informed the board that the National Trust for Historic Preservation contacted him and Environmental Services Director Jon Steiner about the possibility of bringing in a structural engineer, at the organization's expense, to do a building assessment. Steiner said from his understanding the consultant, knowing the condition of the building, would do the analysis from the sidewalk, which would not require board approval.
However, Schmalenberg said, “I think we have to respond. But we’re saying we’re going to tear the building down no matter what. The conversation between Jon and me about this is if they bring $5.5 million with them...”
The National Trust's proposal, as Steiner explained, intends to show whether or not the 119-year-old building can be saved by mothballing it – completely gutting the inside, fixing the roof and windows, and keeping the outside shell – and if this would cost less than demolition.
“That’s their goal. Their view is that it meets both the public health and safety issue and the needs of preserving at least the appearance of a historic structure,” he said. “Their view is that someday someone can come along and rehab the building much cheaper.”
He and Schmalenberg are concerned that if the county does this and the building sits for years with nothing more done with it, eventually the roof and other things would need fixing. Plus, it could sit empty only so long before demolition is inevitable, which by then would cost much, much more.
“If they want our blessing, they need to come up with a number and identify what funding resources they'll bring to the table on the project,” said Steiner. “It’s real easy for them to say this can be done cheaper than demo-ing, and 'by the way you’re on the hook for paying for it. We want you to do it but we don’t have any money for the project.' Sorry, but this has had a lot of chances and the condition of the building continues to worsen.”
Commissioner Warren Affeldt noted that MetroPlains Development made three valiant efforts to rehab the building to no avail. Prior to that, in the 1990s, Tri-Valley attempted to secure funding for housing rehab, which was also unsuccessful.
“The state Historical Society realizes it’s at its end,” Amiot said. “And the cost to mothball isn’t necessarily cheaper than demolition when you take everything into account.”
“The bottom line to this whole thing is there is no second life to this building,” Commissioner Craig Buness said. “You have to have a life to that building, and with no purpose it's just a feel good thing on the corner.”
