Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of the fire damaged Irwin Block building in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Jan. 9, 2022.
Demolition on the fire-gutted Irwin Block Building could begin any day now.
Jimmy Arthur, an estimator and project manager at Casey-Bertram, said the company was hoping to start demolition this week, though the timing will be dependent on the completion of pre-demolition work. Columbus Code Enforcement Officer Fred Barnett confirmed that a demolition permit for the building has been filed.
“I think it’ll definitely be a slow process, just because obviously, we want to take the building down safely without damaging property or having anyone injured,” said Arthur. “So obviously, having the wall there on the east side that’s kind of unsupported right now, we’ll be coming up with a plan of attack to get that down safely and then kind of go from there. It’ll turn into more of a traditional demo, top-down demo, using heavy machinery.”
Pre-demolition tasks include disconnecting utilities, inspecting the building and working with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to ensure the correct steps are being taken prior to demolition.
Arthur estimated that the process of demolition and debris removal could take about six to eight weeks, depending on when the work begins.
It has been over a month since a fire destroyed the Irwin Block Building, resulting in a large portion of its third-story façade collapsing onto the sidewalk and street. The building, which is located on Fifth Street in downtown Columbus, is believed to be at risk of collapse.
Local and state investigators have ruled the cause of the blaze as “undetermined,” meaning that they were unable to find enough physical evidence or evidence obtained from witnesses that would indicate what caused the fire.
The Columbus Board of Works authorized the city to issue a demolition order on the property on Dec. 20. Mayor Jim Lienhoop said that this meant the city would be allowed to proceed with demolition if the owners don’t take care of it themselves.
However, the board later suspended the order after hearing about Casey-Bertram’s plans for the demolition.
“If, by mid-January, nothing has to been done to start on it, then the city’s going to have to step in again,” Barnett told The Republic. “But the owners of the building have been very cooperative with the city on trying to get this resolved.”
Like Arthur, he said that speed of the demolition is dependent on safety. While tearing down a freestanding building might only take a day or two, the close proximity of the Irwin Block Building to a neighboring structure — 440 Fifth Street — makes its demolition more dangerous and difficult.
“Because of the tightness between the buildings, it’s probably going to take a little longer to completely tear that down than it would a freestanding building,” said Barnett. “My concern is getting rid of the immediate danger, which is those two side walls.”
He hopes that the city will be able to reopen this section of Fifth Street by the end of January but added that the danger has to be removed first.
