By Garett Valcourt
Changes in Chipley are expected soon as demolition on the interior of the historic Mongoven building began.
The building at the corner of 5th Street and South Railroad Avenue saw Break-N-Ground demolition teams at the historic 1905 building beginning March 27.
The approval of the demolition contract by the Chipley City Council occurred in January. The project is funded through the Florida Commerce (FC) and Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CBDG-DR) Home-Town Revitalization Program.
The Break-N-Ground contract was approved for $273,500, as they were the lowest bid of four.
“One of the first things to happen is the preservation and removal of the marble around the windows and doors,” Public Works Director Guy Lane said. “They also desire to save a column for historical purposes from the building in this process. The vault and fireplace will remain on site and be restored.”
While the demolition of the long-time vacant building is expected to last three months, City Administrator Patrice Tanner expects that there should be little to no impact on businesses or traffic within the immediate area.
“The closing of 5th street was discussed; however, this has been thoroughly reviewed and discussed by the contractor, engineers, and the city and it is agreed that the road does not need to be closed unless a safety concern arises during the demo,” Tanner said.
COLLIN BREAUX