Russellville Town Hall condemned

Looking north on Harrison Street, the unstable brick wall connected to the Russellville Town Hall displays severe buckling.

Banner Graphic/BRAND SELVIA

RUSSELLVILLE - Coming on the heels of recent wind damage that caused a collapse next door, the Russellville Town Hall has been condemned as unsafe.

The Banner Graphic learned of the condemnation Monday morning after Putnam County Planning and Zoning Director Don Hatfield presented the Putnam County Commissioners with a letter announcing the decision during their regular meeting.

The letter states that an investigation of the building “reveals that the town hall is structurally impaired and no longer fit for human occupancy,” with regard to IC 36-7-9 on unsafe buildings.

Hatfield had sealed the premises by late Monday afternoon. He said the town hall at 211 S. Harrison St. had been in disrepair for years, and that county officials were made aware last Monday that the building was irreparably unstable.

That came after a building next to the town hall collapsed due to high winds at the end of February, during which the top facades of buildings in Cloverdale fell as well.

“The trusses are rotted, the floor joists are rotted and the bricks are popping,” Hatfield said, describing the property’s instability. “It’s been unsafe for a long time, and it was only a matter of time before it had to be condemned.”

Hatfield said the Indiana State Fire Marshal and other officials, including County Attorney Jim Ensley, had surveyed the town hall and the collapsed building and acknowledged their failing integrity. He also said four registered owners of nearby properties had also been informed of the decision.

Clerk-Treasurer Martha Mandleco, who was there at the town hall with Hatfield, said much of the equipment inside had been moved out of the building, and also that the town council had been relocated to the Russellville Community Center at 300 N. Harrison St. The town marshal’s office has been moved as well.

Both Mandleco and Hatfield could not provide a timeline for the eventual demolition of the building, but the condemnation potentially opens up the prospect of repurposing the property.

The collapsed structure at 213 S. Harrison St. was scheduled to go up on a certificate sale the following Tuesday after its roof came down. The Russellville Town Council had discussed acquiring the neglected building, which stood to the south of the town hall, during its most recent monthly meeting.