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The Albert Lea City Council voted Monday night to move ahead with efforts to stabilize the former VFW building on Clark Street that has fallen into disrepair.

City Manager Ian Rigg said because of public safety concerns city staff in June began hiring an engineer and requested quotes for stabilization companies because of  bricks that started falling off the north wall of the building, at 137 E. Clark St., and into the alley. Inspections have also revealed significant issues with the roof that caused damage to the walls.

Rigg told councilors during the work session before the meeting that during an inspection of the building, they found the back half of the roof was hardly attached and was pulling part of the building down. Staff had to bring in crews for emergency shoring to secure the walls.

He said he wasn’t sure where the property owners were at in terms of the ability to make the necessary improvements and that he wasn’t sure where the owners were at with the project, either. The proposal for the building and its adjacent building were to turn them into loft-style apartments.

“All I know is that if we just continue to wait for the property owner to do it, it will fall in,” Rigg said. “And it will fall in in such a way that it will cause significant damage to the area and neighboring buildings.”

Second Ward Councilor Larry Baker asked if the city would be able to recoup the money that it puts into the stabilization from the owners.

Rigg said the cost will be assessed to all four of the properties the owners have within the city. If the owners wanted to step in and take care of the project, he would gladly have them do so.

Online property records list the owner as Clark Street East LLC of Apple Valley. Other properties the group owns include 125, 127 and 131 E. Clark St.

The city so far has spent $97,000 on shoring up the building and is expecting as much as $250,000 more for the remainder of the work, Rigg said. Now that the building is shored up, the city can get competitive bids and not have to feel rushed to get it completed under emergency timelines.

Third Ward Councilor Jason Howland asked if the damage to the roof was through negligence.

Rigg said 90% of the damage to the building is from the roof, which he estimated had been neglected by multiple owners — two if not more.

“This definitely did not happen overnight,” he said.

In addition to replacing a large part of the roof, some of the back wall will need to be rebuilt and tuckpointed. Because of the weather, he estimated some of the work would likely not be done until spring.

Rigg said if the city did not step in and make the repairs and the building fell and damaged another private building, the city would then have to step in and pay for the demolition and removal costs.

“What we’d have is we’d have one less historic building that’s truly unique and if done right could really provide, one, more housing, but, two, just preservation of a really and truly a unique building, …” he said. “It truly provides some unique identity to the community.”

The VFW was last in the building in 1996, but after that it had been used for several restaurant and bar operations. It has been empty in recent years.

Albert Lea Mayor Rich Murray said it seemed like the city is spending a lot of tax dollars taking care of buildings that should have never gotten into the shape they are in had owners taken care of their properties.

“How do we go about changing this so that we don’t continue to have 10 more properties that are in foreclosure, another huge historic building downtown that’s falling apart?” Murray said. “I mean it just seems like it’s a never-ending story. Something needs to be done on a grand scale to try to end this.”

Rigg said city staff have a lot of ideas and have been putting more focus on preemptive efforts that property owners can do in partnership with the city. He referenced the Broadway Ridge Renewal Grant that pays a portion of repairs for things like roofs and windows, which are important to the preservation of the buildings. He questioned whether if some of these things were done 10 or 20 years ago, whether they would be dealing with them now.

The city is also working to save some properties that come to the city through tax forfeiture with a demolition diversion program, where it is rehabbing buildings still worth saving — weighing the cost of rehabilitation with the cost of demolition — and using the money it would have spent on demolition costs for the repairs. After the repairs are made, the city will turn the properties back over to the private market and sell them at fair market value.

He estimated between 80 to 200 houses in the city needing significant work or demolition in the city currently.

“We’re trying to interrupt that cycle,” Rigg said.

First Ward Councilor Rachel Christensen requested a special meeting be set up where the council could discuss the housing and building issues in greater detail and said there is much work to be done.