More than six months after a fire destroyed the former Hornets Pointe Apartment complex, the city of Emporia is moving forward with the demolition of the structure.
Emporia City Commissioners approved a more than $390,000 bid from Kaufman Construction last week to begin the demolition process. City Manager Trey Cocking joined KVOE’s Morning Show Monday to discuss the process.
He says the city wanted to allow time for the owner of the building to “do the right thing” and handle the demolition. He says that clearly “did not happen” and now the city will be upfronting the cost of the efforts which he says is not “ideal” but it needs to happen.
Once the demolition is complete, Cocking says the building owner will be billed for the work and expected to pay back the cost of construction to the city.
The complex suffered extensive damage after fire developed in the early morning hours of December 12th of last year. The firefighting effort took several hours and included multiple Lyon County fire departments. Two firefighters were injured in the incident and investigators have considered the case arson throughout the process.
Lyon County Crime Stoppers still has a reward of up to $1,000 leading to the arrest and convictions of those allegedly involved. No suspect information has been released.
If you have information, call Emporia Fire at 620-343-4230, Emporia Police at 620-343-4200 or Lyon County Crime Stoppers at 620-342-2273.
