'Dangerous' dilapidated Cedar Street home set for demolition

On Monday, a city contractor will demolish a once-grand Cedar Street home that Elyria officials said is crumbling, contaminated with asbestos and a danger to the surrounding neighborhood. Elyria City Council voted unanimously to approve a contract with B&B Wrecking and Excavating of Cleveland to carry out the demolition of the large, three-unit home at 130 Cedar St. "We do need to have the structure come down immediately," Chief Building Official Darryl Farkas said Monday. "It is precarious, I can not stress that enough." Safety Service Director Chris Pyanowski told The Chronicle-Telegram on Tuesday that the contract with B&B was not to exceed $167,480. The company is scheduled to begin work on the demolition Monday. Pyanowski said he anticipated the building would be brought down to the ground that day. Finance Director Ted Pileski said the money would come out of the city's general fund. Council members asked about the relatively high cost of the demolition. Farkas said the demolition project was complex, dangerous and sorely needed. Farkas said that members of the Building Department investigated the building with an inspection warrant, but were forced to leave after discovering how advanced its structural degradation was. "The attic floor, second floor and first floor have imploded inward towards the basement. This home is an old balloon-frame construction that is completely dependent on the integral connection of the floors to the walls. The south wall has zero support. … When we went in and saw this, we immediately left the site because it was so dangerous." This lack of support is even more dangerous because, as Farkas said, the home is located both dangerously close to the cliff overlooking the Black River, as well as to adjacent homes on both sides. "The property is quite large, it consists of three separate units," Farkas said. "While it looks like a single family home from the front, it is basically positioned in such a precarious location (that) it is located literally on the edge overlooking the river. You could technically go fishing out of the window." Due to the precarity of the structure, asbestos testing was done in a minimally invasive way, but tests still came back positive "We did find some asbestos in the structure, but in order to abate that it would put people in peril … because you have an unsafe structure," Farkas said. "The floors are leaning inward, it is not safe to be inside." Farkas said that in such cases it is necessary to tear down the structure and treat all debris as if it is a "hot load," meaning as if everything is contaminated with asbestos. The extra care and more strictly regulated disposal raises the cost and difficulty of the demolition even further. Pyanowski said the contract includes hauling away of all debris according to Environmental Protection Agency standards and disposal of the waste at a landfill that meets the requirements to accept such material. The contract also requires B&B to repair the sidewalk in front of the home if necessary following the demolition, and makes the company responsible for any damage caused to adjacent homes during the demolition. The contractor was selected in part, Pyanowski said, because it has larger equipment that which could demolish the building from above to reduce risk of damage to neighboring homes. He added that the lane of Cedar Street on the corner closest to the home would be closed during the demolition. Councilman Brad Armstrong, I-5th Ward, represents the area in which the house is located, and he said the danger the structure poses warranted the cost of the demolition. "This project has been in my lap since I first got next to all of y'all here (on Council)," Armstrong said. "Like he (Farkas) said, this is a very dangerous home, we have got to get it gone. So I am very happy that we are at this point to get this accomplished … we are worrying about cost, I'm worried about safety." Councilwoman Mary Siwierka, D-3rd Ward, asked if the city would be able to recoup the cost of the demolition from the owners of the home. Law Director Amanda Deery said that the owner of the home was out of state, but that they owned several properties within the city and county and that her office would seek to file liens on all of their properties to seek repayment. The owners of the home are listed as Jack and Suellen Kulasa, who also own neighboring 126 Cedar St., which is still inhabited unlike 130 Cedar St. The Kulasas have a mailing address in Houston and could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.