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Posted on Thu, May 12, 2011 : 12:24 p.m.

Thompson Block scaffolding removed for East Cross road work even as concerns about stability remain

By Tom Perkins

thompson_block.jpg

The scaffolding on the south side of the Thompson Block building has been removed, as officials prepare for the East Cross Street repaving.

Paula Gardner | AnnArbor.com

Shoring propping up the Thompson Block building in Ypsilanti has been removed from East Cross Street, but now concerns have been raised over the 148-year-old Depot Town structure’s stability as a repaving project is scheduled to begin on June 1.

The city hired Fitzpatrick Structural Engineering to inspect the fire-damaged building. Structural engineer Tom Fitzpatrick wrote in a memo to building inspector Kurt Weiland that construction will “certainly create vibrations in the structure, which will need bracing to ensure safety of the public as well as workers.”

In the May 9 memo, Fitzpatrick listed several issues, chief among them is the stability of a 24-foot wall in the center of the building.

The wall, he wrote, could potentially "fall toward the south and damage or take out the adjacent bracing wall thereby destroying the bracing system. This should be a consideration in anticipation of heavy vibrations due to road construction."

Developer Stewart Beal said he hadn't heard about Fitzpatrick's memo, but said the structure is sound.

"The reason we took it down is because our engineer said it was good to go." he said. "The city asked us to remove the shoring and allowed us to do it."

Beal said his engineer determined the building is safe and said the city's engineer had read the drawings and calculations, but not visited the site yet.

City Manager Ed Koryzno said the city was supposed to inspect the building to determine that it was safe before the scaffolding came down, but that inspection wasn't performed because the bracing was quickly removed.

Koryzno said the next step is for Fitzpatrick, Beal's structural engineer and Weiland to meet at the site and come to a resolution. He said he hopes that will happen by the end of the week.

Getting the shoring out of the road required further court-ordered facilitation between the City of Ypsilanti and Beal's company, city officials said.

The city and Historic Equities I LLC, the investment company that owns that Thompson Block and is headed by Beal and his father, Fred Beal, went back into facilitation last week after an April 25 deadline for removing the shoring wasn't met.

Attorney Dan Christ, who is now working on the Thompson Block case instead of city attorneys John and Karl Barr, said he met last week with Fred Beal and his attorney and wife, Nora Wright.

Christ said the focus of the facilitation was setting a timeframe for full removal of the shoring from Cross Street. An attachment that is part of a consent agreement city officials say was developed by Historic Equities provided an April 25 deadline for removing the shoring. That agreement brought to an end three months of facilitation over the building's fate in late August 2010.

That deadline passed and half the shoring remained. Stewart Beal said on several occasions since then that the remaining shoring would be out of the street within several days, but Christ said Koryzno directed him to go back into facilitation as the start of the Cross Street paving project approached.

Beal said poor weather prevented a mason from working to fix structural cracks that occurred when supports were damaged in a 2009 fire believed to be an arson. Jacob Popiolek, 21, was charged with arson.

Now all parties have agreed to a final deadline of May 16 to remove the shoring from Cross Street, Koryzno said.

The attachment to the consent agreement sets interim deadlines for completing parts of the work before the project is completed by Sept. 2. Stewart Beal has maintained that the deadlines in the attachment aren't enforceable and the only deadline that matters is for completion of the agreed upon work by Sept. 2.

Comments

EatKeyLimePie

Wed, Jun 1, 2011 : 8:52 p.m.

Once again Mr. Beal -- Precisely as intended! Bravo!!!!

bill

Sun, May 15, 2011 : 4:33 p.m.

We know Mr. Beal didn't have Insurance when the building burned down. My question is does he have it now???? If someone gets killed when that wall comes crumbling down, who is getting sued. Mr Beals LLC with no assets or The City?????

bill

Sun, May 15, 2011 : 4:31 p.m.

We know Mr. Beal didn't have Insurance when the building burned down. My question is does he have it now???? If someone gets killed when that wall comes crumbling down, who is getting sued. Mr Beals LLC with no assets or The City?????

Thomas

Fri, May 13, 2011 : 12:17 p.m.

@leaguebus, the big deal is that the building was a civil war barracks back in the day and the intent was to keep it. The arson jerk is the one that started this whole thing

Jimmy McNulty

Fri, May 13, 2011 : 12:41 p.m.

Let's not forget that this building was UNINSURED at the time of the fire.

kurtkoeh

Fri, May 13, 2011 : 5:29 a.m.

Just condemn the thing, give the Beals their compensation and take the thing down for public safety reasons alone. It's clear that the Beals don't have the money to do anything with it. And what exactly would they be able to do with it if they did have the money that doesn't involve tearing down the old structure at some point in the process? That building has been sitting there for ages while developer after developer failed to develop it. Enough of the second, third, fourth, and fifth chances. It would be better for the city to invoke the takings clause and get things moving. Short of that this ruin will just sit there for another 10 years until it crumbles on top of someone.

leaguebus

Fri, May 13, 2011 : 4:38 a.m.

That is sort of an ugly building, not a whole lot of detail that couldn't be reproduced cheaply if it fell down. Wonder what all the fuss is about?

Corby

Fri, May 13, 2011 : 4:18 a.m.

Having lived with it this long, I'll kind of miss it when it's gone whether by demolition or reconstruction. (I have a very short gestation period for nostalgia.) It has a rather nice aesthetic with the organic collapse encased by modernist angles ... robin's egg blue, varied shades of brick and wood. It makes me feel like I live in Rome or on a hillside above Machu Picchu. If only we could transport the whole thing to Grand Rapids for ArtPrize... All that aside, it'd be nice if people on both sides (Beal/Council) moved past egos and opinion polls and stopped the bickering/blame in favor of getting it done. I'm far less tired of the structure than I am of the posturing.

Scot

Fri, May 13, 2011 : 1:10 a.m.

Trying to save this building is absolutely rediculous! Tear it down as there is no use saving this building. Get rid of the eyesore ASAP!

AA

Fri, May 13, 2011 : 12:54 a.m.

The Beal Family has consistently dropped the ball on this 'project'. They lost interest long long ago. They have gone 0 for 4 for this 'renovation'. It is sad how long they allowed this to drag on. I guess size isn't everything.

no flamers!

Thu, May 12, 2011 : 7:42 p.m.

Here we go again. City officials: please act with decisiveness and courage and end the facilitations, the debate, the engineer reports and send a bulldozer to the site for cleanup of this dangerous eyesore that has intruded into public space for far too long. You have options. The options aren't risk free, but continued failure to act is unacceptable. Mr. Beal: with each chapter in this book of nightmares, your community reputation is further harmed. You must realize at this point that this property isn't worth saving. Just because you can out-smart and out-litigate community leaders doesn't mean that it is right. Please end this fight and clear the lot.

Bogie

Thu, May 12, 2011 : 7:14 p.m.

I'm not an engineer, but if they want to borrow my level???? So who's liable, if the great wall of depot town falls? Beal? or the city?

David Briegel

Thu, May 12, 2011 : 6:59 p.m.

Nice photo of the scaffolding free wall.

treetowncartel

Thu, May 12, 2011 : 5:33 p.m.

Looks like the house made out of straw is the better option in this fairytale.

Top Cat

Thu, May 12, 2011 : 5:06 p.m.

How much do you want to bet that some time in the near future, we will be referring to this project as Beal's Brick Pile.

Mr. Burns

Thu, May 12, 2011 : 5:05 p.m.

Tom, how about you actually ask Beal some direct questions! Like, "What do you mean by poor weather Mr. Beal? "Do you mean to say that the weather has been to poor since October of 2009 to work on this building?" In past articles here Mr. Beal has lamented on how much he loves Ypsi and the Thompson block, but all of his actions over the past 17 months tell a different story. Maybe Mr. Beal has been using all these lawsuits and fights with the city as a stall tactic hoping he would have had the cash by now. Until someone asks him direct questions I don't think we will ever know. One of the real losers in this story is whatever Historical Group has deemed this property worth saving, thus giving Mr. Beal the tax credits he so vigorously clings too. There are so many other significant historical properties that are more worthy of saving in Michigan.

Ignatz

Thu, May 12, 2011 : 4:37 p.m.

I hope the folks who will work on the road have extra heavy duty hard hats.