City, Pickle reach a deal

The city and a local business have reached an agreement to allow the demolition of one of the Portland’s dilapidated structures downtown.

Portland Board of Works on Friday approved a partial agreement with Chris Grieshop and Thomas Emerick, the owners of The Greazy Pickle, regarding the demolition of the Bailey Building.

On Oct. 6, the board of works awarded the contract to demolish the structure at 201 through 205 W. Main St. to JAShroyer Group of Muncie at a cost of $295,000. Eric Welch, attorney for the adjacent restaurant/bar, asked at that time for a meeting with the contractor in order to ensure that a common wall between the two structures would be preserved.

Representatives from the city, The Greazy Pickle and JAShroyer Group have discussed the project since then, with Grieshop and Emerick agreeing to also allow the city to tear down the building at 207 W. Main St. (Owned by Grieshop and Emerick, it is the former home of Schmit Chiropractic and sits between the Bailey Building and The Greazy Pickle.) The additional work does not bring an extra cost, as JAShroyer included it in its original bid for the job.

The agreement also indicates that Emerick and Grieshop will cooperate with the city and its contractor with the project, including closing The Greazy Pickle, 211 W. Main St., when necessary. (Representatives of the restaurant/bar said Friday that the restaurant is already closed on Sundays and Mondays and is willing to close on Tuesdays as well during the demolition process. Shane Shroyer of JAShroyer agreed to work with The Greazy Pickle to allow it to be open as much as possible.)

The city also agreed to contributed up to $20,000 to secure the remaining east wall of The Greazy Pickle once demolition is complete. That process could be in the form of brick and mortar work or adding a metal “skin” to the building similar to the new facade on the north side of the bar/restaurant.

If the anticipated cost exceeds $20,000, the city and The Greazy Pickle have agreed to further negotiations.

“Nobody is really going to know until we get into it,” said city attorney Wes Schemenaur.

The only question from the board of works on the agreement was about its designation as “partial.” Schemenaur explained that he sees it as a first step and that there will be a final agreement when the work is complete to indicate that both sides are satisfied.

Board members Mayor John Boggs, who attended remotely, Jerry Leonhard and Steve McIntosh unanimously approved the partial agreement.

The board also discussed the timeline for the project with Shroyer, who said the state requires notification of 10 business days before work begins. That would put the potential project start date at Nov. 13. (The bid specifications called for demolition to begin within 30 days of the project to be completed and for the work to last no more than 10 days.)

He said the work may be done in stages, including on Sundays, in order to allow The Greazy Pickle to remain open as much as possible.

Welch also asked about having a structural engineer on site for the demolition. Shroyer said he doesn’t think that is necessary for most of the project, but that he would know more once the work begins. Schemenaur and Welch agreed during that meeting that Shroyer could begin work without an engineer on site but will call for one if he encountered any issues.

Shroyer said he feels the project will go well.

“We usually don’t get called in until it’s already collapsed,” said Shroyer.

“That’s what we’re trying to prevent,” said McIntosh.

Schemenaur also passed on a request from Jay County Historical Society to allow someone to go into the Bailey Building to take pictures before it gets torn down.

“I would not recommend that,” said Shroyer.

He did, however, agree to work with Sue Szymczak to try to preserve some of the decorative architecture at the top of the structure.

In other business:

•Approved a pay request of $849,234.66 for Watson Excavating, which is in the final stages of the Meridian Street storm sewer project. An additional $133,202.38 was held back in retainage.

•Just prior to the meeting, Boggs reported that he was moving home Friday. He suffered a stroke in early September and after being hospitalized initially has been in a rehabilitation facility for a little over a month.