A panel comprised of representatives from the city of Chillicothe and Main Street Chillicothe is being formed to help the entities reach a decision about the future of the old vacant Leeper hotel building at the northwest corner of Webster and Washington streets.
The findings of a structural report were discussed during the semimonthly meeting of the Chillicothe City Council Monday night. The council approved the city administrator’s recommendation to place 1st Ward Councilman Sid Cornell and 3rd Ward Councilman Tom Douglas on the committee. Main Street Chillicothe Director Crystal Narr said her organization would be making appointments to the board soon. Once formed, the committee will meet and discuss what the next step should be regarding the deteriorating building and report to the City Council at its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 27.
The structural report issued by Trabue, Hansen and Hinshaw Inc., of Columbia, Mo., (a firm hired by Main Street Chillicothe and Chillicothe Development Corp.), stated that the building is in poor but stable condition. The report stated that the building presently is not in danger of collapse; however, its deterioration is remarkably advanced in some areas and should be addressed as soon as possible to prevent further, accelerated decay.
Based on figures obtained by Narr, it was roughly estimated that it would take $250,000 to stabilize the building. This would include repairing or replacing the roof where necessary, taking care of masonry work on minor cracks, and doing some interior cleanup and stabilization. Although the roof was in desperate need of attention, Narr said the majority of the roof has a good slope which would cut down on roof replacement costs.
She noted that grant funds up to $400,000 could be made available for renovating the structure.
