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With the sole bid coming in substantially higher than engineering estimates to demolish the partially collapsing buildings on South Broadway in downtown Albert Lea, the Albert Lea City Council voted Monday to reject the bid and go back to the drawing board.

City Manager Ian Rigg said the only bid the city received for the demolition of the buildings at 324 and 332 S. Broadway was from Twin Town demolition of Elk River for about $711,000.

“The consulting engineer hired by the city, the city building official, the city engineer and city administration agree that the amount bid is in excess of what the city is willing to accept,” city background information said.

The council voted in July to move forward with the emergency abatement of the two buildings after part of the building at 332 S. Broadway started collapsing at the end of June. Additional parts of the structure have collapsed in the days since, and the area is now blocked off with a fence in the alleyway behind the building.

The city acquired the building at 324 Broadway under tax forfeiture last year and acquired the 332 building in 2015. Both are in the city’s historic district.

City building inspector Wayne Sorensen previously said problems with both buildings started with failing roofs, and being without heat for so long compounded the problems.

The buildings are in severe disrepair, with collapsing interior floors and other structural damage. He said stairways on the back of both buildings have partially collapsed due to decades of poor roof maintenance, and last summer an entire room fell into the basement in the 332 building. 

The buildings also have extensive water damage from rain that continues through all floors, which in turn has generated extensive mold, and there are also broken windows.

The city moved the top part of the buildings’ facades in January to prevent bricks from falling onto the ground below.

The resolution passed Monday states the city will continue to plan for an adjusted sequence of demolition, including potentially rebidding the project with extended time periods to accommodate a more available field of contractors.

“These situations that the city has to inherit are situations none of us would like to have,” Albert Lea Mayor Vern Rasmussen Jr. said. “Unfortunately when people have properties and do not take care of them, these properties end up in the lap of the city, and as a result the city of Albert Lea has to take drastic measures to ensure the safety of our community.”

In addition to public safety concerns, the buildings have brought worries because they share walls with the Vitality Center to the north and former Broadway Theater building to the south, putting the neighboring buildings at risk of structural damage. Some of the demolition would need to be done by hand to prevent damage to the common walls.

Rasmussen said the city would continue to look at ways to mitigate the situation and move forward with a better bidding process in the near future.

In other action, the council:

• Approved a bid for $162,000 from American Homes LLC for roofing and structural repairs for another city-owned structure at 310 S. Broadway.

Repairs involve restructuring the first and second floors and roof structures, as well as re-roofing the entire building.

Rigg said the roof rafters in part of the building have started to fail from weather damage.

The other bid received for the project, for about $292,000, was from Joseph Construction out of Austin.

This building was in the city’s capital improvement plan for $120,000 and will be paid for with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The city acquired the building through tax forfeiture and the goal is to repair it for resale.