A demolition crew has been eating away at the fire-damaged Avalon Building in downtown Newark during the past week.
LEADS, a local organization incorporated in 1966 with the purpose of assisting economically disadvantaged residents of Licking County, decided in October that it would not be feasible to repair and restore the 124-year-old building at 86 W. Main St., across W. Main Street from the Licking County Library.
A fire alarm sounded around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 23, forcing 24 residents from their apartments. The fire caused significant damage to portion of the roof structure, causing the roof on the east end of the building to collapse.
All residents and their pets escaped unharmed. Some lost most or all of their belongings, and all had to find other places to live. The building sat fenced off from the public and with its roof covered in plastic for most of this year.
Nathan Keirns, LEADS chief executive officer, said in October that it’s possible that LEADS could rebuild on the northwest corner of W. Main and N. 5th streets.
“The land has covenants on it through about 2035 that say the land has to be used for affordable housing,” he said. “Another building is possible, but we’d have to apply for low-income housing tax credits and go through that process.”
A news release at the time said that LEADS considered many options for the Avalon but determined that saving the structure again was not possible. Keirns said that while the fire damage was limited, the damage caused by water used to fight the fire was significant to the structure and to many of its fixtures, including the elevator.
“At the end of the day, you’d be left with a building that is 120 years old, condemned once, then damaged, then restored and then damaged by fire and water,” he said. “Our board was left wondering whether the building would ever be right again.”
The Avalon, built around 1900, originally housed shops and offices, along with apartments.
“It was condemned in 1998 by the Newark City Health Department due to its poor condition,” the LEADS release said. “The future of the building was uncertain for several years until 2004, when LEADS obtained low-income-housing tax credits to salvage the building and convert it into affordable housing.
From that time and until March, when the fire took place, the historic building housed 20 senior apartments.