Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THE NOW vacant Wakefield city hall stands empty on Monday evening, boasting a 1915 construction insignia and showing its age via crumbling columns and steps, boarded windows, and uneven blocks. A local property assessor has advised the Wakefield city council to seek state funding to have the building demolished. The city garage, shown partially to the right, poses an additional problem in that utility work from the city hall feeds into the garage. The property address is 311 Sunday Lake Street.
By P.J. GLISSON
Wakefield - Property appraiser Tom Williams said Monday evening that he wishes he had better news about the now vacant Wakefield City Hall that still stands with sad pride on the town's Sunday Lake Street.
"Unfortunately, it is what it is," he said to council members, who voiced no surprise.
The council hired Williams, of the R.T. Williams Agency, Inc. in Ironwood, in the spring to inspect the hall. The result was his presentation of a related 28-page report to the council.
The appraiser said age is a significant issue with the hall, which was built in 1915 and which has been vacant since city officials moved their operations up the main street to the former Father Daniels Hall in 2014. The old city hall, however, is still city property.
According to Williams, the deteriorating city hall suffers from "physical and functional obsolescence," making any hope of salvaging it "an exercise in futility."
In addition to the visible crumbling and peeling, both inside and outside of the building, Williams said there also are issues of asbestos, as well as mold or mildew.
Beyond those problems, the appraiser also noted of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, "You don't have ADA compliance, and you can't get it if you want to."
The hall is layered with several sets of stairs, and Williams said installing an elevator "would be tricky."
His written report, which states that the building "appears to have had very little maintenance over the years," points out that installing an elevator would be a "prohibitive expense."
Williams told council members that the city garage, which is attached to the hall, may still be usable, but it has its own complications.
Mayor John Granato said utilities from the city hall feed into the garage, which would create challenges in the event of a hall demolition.
Williams said it also would be difficult to sell the city garage, given its own problems and its location on the city's main street.
Overall, the appraiser estimated the hall's current value as a negative "equal to the cost of demolition less the site value."
Moreover, he strongly recommended seeking state grant money to help fund the demolition.
"I would certainly recommend that you jump on that bandwagon as soon as possible," said Williams. "Frankly, I think that's your solution - public funding."
Council members thanked Williams for his report, which includes numerous photos, a location map, and an aerial view of the site. They took no action on the property at Monday's meeting.
