Down it goes

By Justin Post - 12/03/2008

Don Jipp had more than one reason to celebrate Tuesday afternoon.

Standing outside his Walkerville home just after 1 p.m., Jipp sipped a Rolling Rock beer on his 44th birthday and watched as crews knocked down the decrepit building at 1622 N. Main.

A collapsed section of the brick building has been leaning on Jipp's home at 1620 N. Main since late this summer, and he said neighbors had considered the building a safety hazard.

"I think it's awesome," Jipp, a drilling contractor who works in the oil and gas exploration business, said as an excavator ripped through the building. "I'm glad to see it coming down." Ed Randall of the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department declared the building a safety hazard earlier this year and encouraged commissioners to take ownership of the property.

"It was a continuous safety issue with the neighborhood kids," he said.

Owner Helen Maunder donated the land to the city-county after a portion of the building collapsed.

Maunder, who is in her 90s, paid someone roughly $8,000 to have the building demolished but the work was never completed, Randall said.

She asked for the local government's assistance because she doesn't have additional money for the demolition, he said.

Historic preservation officer Chuck Carrig concurred with Randall's recommendation to demolish the old brick building. He said most the building's historical features had been removed and that the structure could have collapsed at any moment.

Council agreed in late October to take ownership of the property and its building, which was built in the late 1800s.

Jipp plans to seek ownership of the now-vacant land if it's offered through the city-county's developer's packet process.

Reporter Justin Post may be reached at justin.post@lee.net or by telephone, 496-5572.