By Seth Schmidt
Time may be running out for a downtown Tracy landmark.
On Monday, the Tracy City Council passed a resolution ordering out-of-state owners to repair the former Enderson Clothing building within 30 days, or have it razed.
Building inspector Shane Daniels and Fire Chief Dale Johnson III recently inspected the two-story brick building and declared it to be a public safety hazard.
“There are multiple things that are wrong with this building,” City Administrator Kris Ambuehl told the council. The resolution, he added, was a step intended to initiate corrective action from the owner of record, the First National Acceptance Company of East Lansing, MI.
Daniels and Johnson inspected the 157 Third St. property after City officials received public complaints regarding foul odors emanating from the building and boards falling from a front awning. Deficiencies found included collapsing sections of the foundation, mold, roof leakage, vegetation growing into a window, basement sewage sludge, poor second-story windows, broken electrical boxes, and the deteriorating canopy.
Council members expressed concern that over the Labor Day weekend, hundreds of people would be walking by the decrepit storefront during Box Car Days. The question was asked as to whether a public health emergency be declared, to allow the city to have the building razed immediately.
For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.