After more than six years of pursuing options for a historic building in disrepair, the De Soto City Council voted unanimously to demolish the former Knights of Pythias building at 120 N. Second St. and the building next door at 116 N. Second St.
On Sept. 21, the council agreed to hire Herzog Excavating and Demolition of Perryville to demolish the city-owned properties. Herzog, the lowest of four bidders, submitted a bid of $96,510. Other bids were $194,439 from Checkered Flag Excavation; $277,500 from Wohlf Building; and $350,000 from Courtney Construction.
The city purchased the two buildings in 2020 for a total cost of $110,000 with hopes of expanding its footprint or finding a new purpose for the Knights of Pythias building. City Hall is located across the street at 17 Boyd St.
“The purchase was made knowing that it was a long shot to be able to rehabilitate the (Knights of Pythias) building due to the condition it was in and the costs that a rehabilitation would incur,” City Manager Todd Melkus said, adding the second building was purchased with parking in mind.
The Knights of Pythias building was reportedly built in the late 1800s. The other building was always office space, Melkus said, and not nearly as old as the Knights’ building.
He said First State Community Bank had foreclosed on 120 N. Second St. in 2017. He said the bank repaired the roof and attempted to find interested contractors to renovate the building, which according to the county assessor’s office, previously was owned by Raymond and Carole Mathes.
“Ever since (the city’s purchase), there has been a ton of discussion on what to do with the building, if we could save it, what the options were,” Melkus said. “The last thing we ever want to do is tear down a historic building. I can say that (Mayor Kathy Smith) has been the first one beating on my door every day, saying, ‘That building is not coming down.’ I understand. It does have some history. The problem is we were not in control of the building when maintenance was not done and the building was literally destroyed from the inside out. When you drive by, I know it looks like a very well-built brick building.”
He and Smith cautioned anyone who wanted a tour of the building that there were bats and mold, as well as floor rot.
Melkus said he has met over the years with numerous contractors and investors, including the ones who renovated a former school into apartments.
“The key to these historic buildings getting renovated is private investors because they are able to get the tax credits – that we can not get as a government entity – which it’s 50 percent of what you spend, so it’s a big deal,” he said. “We met with the same (investor that did the former school), and they just said it’s just not feasible. Even recently, we had an investor reach out within the last month that was potentially going to commit a lot of funding to it. Today, I talked to them, and they backed out as well. The estimate that I got in the last month from the contractors was $5-7 million to renovate that building. Who in their right mind is going to do that? The return on investment is 15-20 years. I went ahead and did the demolition bid because we thought that might be the end game.”
He said the City Council had him explore every avenue possible to save the building, but the options have been exhausted. He said he even reached out to find if there were historical preservation funds available, discovering only about $200,000 was available for the entire state.
Melkus said the mayor’s love for the history of this town is unmeasurable. Smith has attempted to document the full history of the Knights’ building. She knows it was built before 1897. She’s been unable to determine when the Knights of Pythias sold the building.
She said silent movies were shown in the building during the winter months in the early 1900s. The first floor served as a town gymnasium for 40 years. For several years, the building was occupied by the National Guard and that is when the annex was added for office and storage space. She said at some point Edwin Mathes purchased the building and turned it into multiple offices and apartments.
“It kills me (to demolish the building) because there is a lot of history there, but we have to do what is right,” she said as she asked for a vote on the demolition.
Councilman Matt Franken clarified that the building has historical significance, but it is not on any historic registry.
On Sept. 24, Melkus said he is working with Ameren to remove service from the former Knights building and does not believe demolition will happen before Nov. 1. He said the Klassy Kurl salon will continue to operate in the first floor of the Knights until the demolition date is known.
In the short term, the property will be used for parking, which is needed downtown, he said.
In other matters during the meeting, the council voted to table a budgeted kennel addition project after receiving bids higher than anticipated.
The city had planned to add 10 additional kennels on the east side of the building and an office space, restroom and waiting area on the west side.
“We had budgeted $250,000 for an addition to the kennel, and we did that because of our estimate from the architect,” Melkus said. “Unfortunately, by the time the project went out to bid, the bids were almost double.”
Boyer Building & Design submitted the lowest base bid at $494,371. Other bids ranged from $502,430 to $619,031.
“My recommendation is that we probably discuss it more for the future budget because if you accept this bid, you have to accept it as it is. You can’t accept the bid and then say, ‘We’re only going to do half of it,’” Melkus said, adding the new fiscal year begins Nov. 1.
In other business, the council approved hiring the low bidder, Kimes Contracting of Hillsboro, to complete 3,400 square feet of 8-inch concrete with curb at the De Soto Athletic Complex for $25,000. Melkus said asphalting the entire parking area will be a long-term project.
The council approved hiring McCullough Custom Concrete of De Soto for 2,500 square feet of 6-inch concrete with curb on Hickory Hills Drive for $25,740. He said more work is needed, but this could be completed in the current budget year. Work was expected to be completed Oct. 14-16, weather pending, with the road down to one lane.
“We’ll probably be looking at doing some more (to the road) next year,” he said.
Also, during the meeting, the council agreed to keep the city’s tax rate levy at the same rate as last year at 0.8469 percent.