Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of the lot where the Irwin Block building used to stand in downtown Columbus, Ind., Friday, Feb. 17, 2023.
More than two months after a fire destroyed a treasured historical building in downtown Columbus, it is still unclear what the future may hold for the property.
The building, known by generations of Columbus residents as the Irwin Block building on the 400 block of Fifth Street, was destroyed by a fire late Dec. 3, resulting in a large portion of the building’s third story façade collapsing onto the sidewalk.
The cause of the fire was ruled “undetermined,” meaning investigators could not uncover enough physical evidence or accounts of factors that led to the fire.
Clean-up efforts continued earlier this week after demolition crews started tearing down the roughly 129-year-old building in January. City officials have been told that the demolition could take six to eight weeks to complete, possibly by the end of this month.
The progress of the clean-up effort has raised questions about what comes next for the property, which is located in a prime location in the heart of Columbus’ downtown.
When asked about future plans for the property, Jayne Hege, one of the building’s owners, said, “I’m sorry, we do not (have plans). We just don’t.”
Currently, the property is zoned as “commercial/downtown,” which allows for a wide variety of uses, said City-County Planning Director Jeff Bergman. Those uses could potentially include a parking lot, offices, restaurants, retail, hotel, trade or business school, conference center, library, museum, personal services or apartments or condominiums on upper floors.
Bergman said the building’s owners had not applied for any permits through his office as of Wednesday.
“The city’s comprehensive plan and the Envision Columbus plan that was adopted a few years ago are going to be generally supportive of a continuation of those types of uses that we see downtown — office, retail, residential,” Bergman said. “But neither of those plans have any content that is specifically related to this property.”
City officials said they have not spoken with the owners about the future of the property, as their focus as mainly been on ensuring the building is demolished, the property cleaned up and that section of Fifth Street reopened, which has been closed since the fire.
Earlier this week, city attorney Alan Whitted said the estimator and project manager handling the demolition assured him that “the project was moving forward, on pace from his perspective.”
“They expected to have that lot essentially cleaned up by the end of the week, but I don’t have any information on when they’re planning to remove fences, those kind of things that would allow us to reopen the street,” Whitted said Tuesday during the Columbus Board of Public Works meeting.
City officials said the Irwin Block building dated back to the “original era of downtown growth” in Columbus.
Records filed with the National Park Service’s Register of Historic Places described the Irwin Block building as a “Queen Anne masterpiece” and possibly the “best example of Queen Anne commercial (architecture) in Indiana.”
Over the years, the Irwin Block building had lived many lives, with a variety of tenants occupying the building, including doctor’s offices, flower shops, beauty salons, funeral homes and a furniture store, officials said.
City officials said they are hopeful that the owners build “something that meets the needs that we see for our downtown.”
“We’ve not spoken to the property owners about what comes next,” said Redevelopment Director Heather Pope. “(We’ve) just mainly been focused on the clean-up portion. But nonetheless, we’re hopeful that the owners replace the old building with something that meets the needs we see for our downtown, which, in general, would be things like office or retail space or a restaurant on the ground floor and residential on the top floor.”
— Republic Reporter Jana Wiersema contributed to this story.
