8000 square foot building on Lincoln and Washington has been roped off since July.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The City of Wellington’s consulting firm Professional Engineering Consultants of Wichita just issued a report that does not bode well for the survival of the building at 107 W. Lincoln.

The city office has just received a report this Thursday from PEC stating that in order for the building to be safely stabilized and secured, it would cost either the owner or the city an estimated $529,000.

“I’m not sure that is something we could afford,” said Shane Shields, Wellington City Manager.

The demolition of the building will undoubtedly cost less, but Shields would not offer a guesstimate how much such a procedure would cost. Wellington City Inspector Richard Jack said in a previous council meeting that demolition would cost between $50,000 and $100,000.

The imperiled building on the northwest corner of Lincoln and Washington has been shut down since July 14. The street at Lincoln between Washington and Jefferson has also been closed down in fear of the building falling. The sidewalks have been also roped off from pedestrians.

Shields said he will be taking the report to the Wellington City Council which is scheduled to meet on Sept. 6 for its regular meeting.

Jack said last week he and a PEC structural engineer had spent two hours in the building.

Earlier in a memo sent to the Wellington City Council, dated Aug. 12, 2016, Jack stated:

“From my last report a few things have occurred, the “swimming pool” on the roof is no longer there; unfortunately it is now dispersed throughout the building. Sometime last Friday, a hole developed and emptied water into the entire front half of the building. The secondary roof on the third floor has experienced additional collapse. On the second and first floors, the water caused the plaster ceiling to fail and the drop ceilings on the first floor to come down.”

Jack went on to say part of the roofing diaphragm system that holds the roof decking and roofing material in place had collapsed further, which has allowed rain over the past month to infiltrate into the building.

“It seems the roof is being held up due to a hard lid that was installed during the 1999-2000 owner remodel.” he wrote in the memo. “As of this writing, the water is pouring in; however the ‘roof’ is still in place. I cannot determine how much longer this is going be the case. The water no longer pooled on the roof has likely reduced the stress on the sides of the building.”

Janet Spevak, who is listed as the owner of the building, has been unavailable for comment. Jack said the Spevaks are devastated.

“This was an absolute surprise to them,” he said. “They put all their time and money – everything they had – into making this their home and then this happened.”

The owners self reported the problem in July and told Red Beard Barbershop it could no longer operate. The owner, Spencer Furman, decided to not relocate and open the business. Since then, Jack said the Spevaks have periodically moved their belongings from the premises.

Jack has been warning the council that the building could crumble within a month unless there was some kind of temporary fix.

Wellington downtown developer Tom McAlister, who once owned the building, but sold it more than 25 years ago said he thought it would take at least $1.52 million to renovate.

“I’m not going to buy it,” he said. “I have my hands full with a lot of other projects.”

That includes the former Apple Market building on Harvey and Jefferson which he is renovating for warehouse storage.

Jack had said in an earlier Sumner Newscow article that to adequately stabilize the building it would involve putting steel beams into the ground that will have plates attached. The plates would then hold the walls in place for awhile.

As far as the street is concerned, it will remain closed until the stabilization or the demolition of the building is completed for safety reasons, Jack said.

This has raised the ire of at least one neighboring businessman. Jerry Fike, manager of the Wellington Regent Theater, stated in a Facebook post, it is costing him business.

The building is considered to be more than 100 years old, and was completed around 1910. McAlister said the first floor may have been older than that and was used as a shoe business, perhaps clear back in the 1870s.

“Those were the days when the shoe business was a big business in downtowns,” McAlister said. “You should see the floor in there.”

McAlister said the second and third floors were built later. The Wellington Masons eventually used the third floor as a gathering place for secret meetings and rituals. There is no direct access to the third floor except a ladder.

The troubling thing about this is the building itself was nice inside having incurred numerous renovations over the past 25 years by the Spevaks and a California couple before them. It was known as the Lincoln Place.

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