Board of Works affirms desire to demolish three downtown buildings owned by Avon company

The City of Shelbyville must wait 30 more days before initiating the demolition process of a downtown eyesore.

Indy Asset LLC, 2129 Spring Briar Court in Avon, Indiana, has yet to respond to the city’s desire to raze the properties as 201 S. Harrison St., 5 W. Broadway, 7 W. Broadway, 9 W. Broadway, 13 W. Broadway and 15-17 W. Broadway because of their unsafe nature. All those properties are vacant and in serious states of disrepair.

No one representing Indy Asset, the registered owner of the properties, or the mortgage company, Capital Stack UT LLC, located in South Jordan, Utah, adhered to a request to appear at Tuesday’s Board of Works and Public Safety meeting at City Hall.

City attorney Jennifer Meltzer laid out the next steps in the legal process to force action.

“We gave them 60 days to accomplish this on July 8 which means that will run into September. You can also allow for additional time,” explained Meltzer. “There is also an option to issue up to a $5,000 penalty. At this time, we are simply requesting the order to be affirmed that they have until Sept. 7 to demolish and remove the structure.”

Demolishing the more than a century-old dilapidated buildings will be a tricky process because of the proximity, and the potential of shared structures, with existing businesses along South Harrison St. and the main entrance to First Baptist Church at 27 W. Broadway.

Several area building owners and the church’s pastor appeared Tuesday before the Board of Works to express relief that the project is moving forward but shared trepidation about razing the buildings and the land’s future use.

When asked about a timeline for demolition if no progress is made before Sept. 7, Meltzer explained there would still be legal hurdles to clear before requesting bids for demolition, which would likely not start until the end of 2024 at the earliest she speculated.

Even after demolition, the city would not own the property and more legal work would be needed to foreclose on the site, according to Meltzer.

The order was affirmed until September by the Board of Works which consists of Shelbyville Mayor Scott Furgeson, Tom Reaves and Rod Meyerholtz.

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