Recycling Blanca's Corner: Alongi wants repairs made and the barricades down
Du Quoin Mayor Guy Alongi says that after a year and a half of a sidewalk being closed, he wants to take whatever steps are necessary to take down the orange barrels and barricades at Blanca's Corner consignment shop at the corner of East Main Street and North Mulberry in Du Quoin. "It looks bad for our town," he said. The building was a discussion item on Monday's Du Quoin City Council agenda.
The barricades went up in May 2014 after a partial collapse of the Higgins Jewelry building to the west. A consulting engineer for the city inspected the Blanca's Corner building and found bad mortar joints on the east wall (Mulbery Street) side of the building.
Last week, Mayor Alongi and city personnel gained access to the building and viewed the structural issues. "You can't put your fist through it, but you can put the palm of your hand through it.
Thinking out loud, Mayor Alongi, said there are some possibilities.
Owner Blanca Kuberski, in Texas most of the time, can make the repairs and continue to operate the business. Or, the city can order the repairs and make them, then place a lien on the building. The mayor doesn't want to do that. He wants to stay positive.
The mayor imagines another possibilities.
Blanca, who is not renting the building but instead buying it with a mortage held by the Isom family, could give up the building and the contents. Then, the city could approach the Isom family and see if they could work out a way to take possession of the building and the contents, possibly turning those assets into enough resources to repair the building. "It has a good roof and is one of the better downtown buildings," Along said.
It could be recycled back into retail space or find a community purpose like being a larger home to the chamber and tourism. All of this is no more or less than thinking out loud and the discussions could be days or weeks away. Here's the goal: to engage everyone in finding a way to recycle this great building.