Lorain Eagles Building back on city demolition list

LORAIN — The Eagles Building is back on Lorain's demolition list, but the city doesn't want to see the historical landmark torn down, according to Safety Service Director Sanford Washington. Members of Lorain's Demolition Board of Appeals voted Thursday morning to revoke the stay of demolition on the building at 575 Broadway. Washington said the city is looking at viable ways to treat the building, including mitigating a crack in its facade and putting netting up to prevent debris from falling onto Broadway. The cost of the netting will be assessed to the property. Washington said the earliest it could be up is the beginning of April, as the city needs to get new bids on the work. The city is also looking at its options to foreclose on the property, which has about $1,300 in back taxes owed. The same board told building owner Keokuk Construction LLC it had until mid-September 2021 to put the required netting up, but the work never happened and the issue got lost in the shuffle when former Building, Housing and Planning Director Max Upton left the city, Washington said. Since the initial netting discussion late last summer, cones have blocked off a portion of the sidewalk in front of the building, and the alleyway between it and the Lorain Palace Theatre. In spring 2019, the city shut down Broadway after parts of the building's façade tumbled to the sidewalk. A structural engineer surveyed the building before the city allowed the road to reopen, determining facade repairs would cost about $1.1 million. The long-defunct building was once Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 343, built in 1918. It survived the 1924 tornado, which tore through downtown, leveling the Palace next door. The chapter operated until the mid-1980s, then the building was used to house storefronts and bars. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In late 2019, former Councilman Dennis Flores began work to resurrect the Aerie, and he hopes to receive grants or historic tax credits to help spur the restoration. "The ultimate goal is to save and repurpose a national historic building (in) our community," he said via Facebook message Thursday. "Once people realize it's all about downtown historic preservation then, (in my honest opinion) we're working together for the same goal — bringing people downtown." Keokuk Construction LLC owner Gary Davis could not be reached for comment Thursday. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.