Richmond's mayor is trying to calm an escalating war of words between the city and owners of the Eggleston Hotel over the collapse of the long-blighted landmark in Jackson Ward.
Mayor Dwight C. Jones declined to respond in detail to a statement by the owners yesterday that they got no help from Richmond in financing the planned $1 million renovation of the building, which was renowned as a magnet for illustrious black entertainers and athletes during decades of racial segregation.
"I hope that the property owners are successful in restoring the Eggleston Hotel," Jones said in a statement late yesterday.
"For decades, it has been one of our city's historic treasures -- right in the heart of Jackson Ward. We will continue to work with the property owners, and provide any available assistance during the construction and restoration process."
The 99-year-old building fell early Saturday, two days before crews were scheduled to begin reinforcing the walls. The owners decided to demolish the remainder of the building later that day.
Developer Kelvin G. Hanson, who planned to restore the hotel with apartments and retail space, said yesterday that the demolition cost will be paid as part of the redevelopment project.
The building had been vacant for more than a decade at the intersection of North Second and East Leigh streets. It had lost its roof and stood open to the weather, but the owner, Second Street Renaissance Associates, said yesterday that city officials should be thankful that no one was injured in the hotel's collapse instead of publicly blaming the owners for not acting sooner to stabilize the building.
The partnership said the city had not given it the same financial help as other imperiled historic landmarks in Jackson Ward and had delayed private financing of the development project by a tax-refund error that had clouded the property's title. Jones and other city officials did not respond to the allegations.
The Eggleston partnership issued the statement yesterday after a top Richmond planning and building official blamed the building's collapse on the owner's delay in responding to years of city pressure to save the structure from ruin. Rachel O. Flynn, director of community development, said Monday that the owner had waited too long to begin stabilizing and restoring the structure.
The owners responded yesterday that they had spent more than $50,000 to prepare for the hotel's restoration, including the removal of more than three stories of debris from the building in the past two months.
Richmond code enforcement records show that the city had cited the owner for hazardous conditions in 2005 and had begun pushing hard in September 2007. City building officials met that fall with the owner and developer to produce a plan to stabilize the structure. An unsigned memorandum in the city file warned on Oct. 17, 2007, that the building's exterior wall could collapse if debris shifted inside the structure because of weather or human action.
The city set a deadline of April 1, 2008, to begin construction for stabilizing the building but said the owner did not meet it.
The Eggleston partnership said yesterday that it had submitted monthly reports to the city to document the status of the project, but those reports are not part of the records released this week by the city.
The records also did not include a letter written by the project's structural engineer, Klaus J. Worrell, on March 18, 2008, asking the city to close one lane of Leigh Street and move power lines before the stabilization work could begin. The letter was copied to Art Dahlberg, then Richmond's building commissioner, but Worrell said yesterday that he never got a response.
Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or mmartz@timesdispatch.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement