The Blue Streak Printers building, a fixture on the downtown landscape since the 1910s, will soon be torn down following a unanimous Hopkinsville City Council vote to award a $58,564 demolition contract to East Construction Co.
The contract is part of an emergency declaration ordinance stemming from structural engineer Kelly Gardner’s findings after a second inspection on Friday of the vacant East Ninth Street building.
Addressing the council at their special called meeting Tuesday night, Gardner said, “In a nutshell, it’s worse than we thought.”
After his first inspection of the building on Oct. 2, Gardner wrote that the structure “exhibits significant deterioration and is not safe for occupancy in its current condition.” He added, “Until stabilization or demolition is completed, the property should remain secured and unoccupied.”
But his assessment following the second inspection on Oct. 24 warned that the building “is in imminent danger of collapse and poses a serious health and safety risk to the public.”
Gardner said the second inspection gave him access to parts of the roof he could not see in the first inspection. City firefighters cut holes in the ceiling and provided a lift to give him a closer look at the structure.
Four of the five wooden roof trusses are “damaged with either split chords, failed joint connections and/or have rotted bearing ends,” he wrote. He said the original rafters were not sized for the added load of a lower drop ceiling added to the building at some point.
In addition, Gardner described the front wall as “unstable and in danger of collapse.”
The council voted 10-0 to approve the emergency declaration. Council members Travis Martin and Seth Meeks were absent. Martin, who has been critical of Mayor James R. Knight Jr.’s handling of the Blue Streak building, previously said in a Facebook post that he would be absent because his son’s golf team banquet was at the same time.
Emergency provision allows for bidding bypass
Under state and local laws, the city would typically have to publish a competitive bid packet for projects exceeding $40,000. However, an exclusion exists allowing the city to forego a bid process if an emergency is declared.
Fire Chief Steve Futrell told Hoptown Chronicle that East Construction Co. was selected because it was the only company to submit a bid earlier this year in response to a request from the city. In March, a legal notice solicited quotes by the square foot “to perform demolition services to various structures located in Hopkinsville.”
Amid wave of demolitions, pushback grows
The decision to raze the building comes amid opposition from a number of residents who wanted the building to be saved because of its historical significance. Built around 1912, it first housed Rex Theatre, which showed silent movies. It was later home to Kentucky Theater and finally to Alfred “Bobo” Cravens’ print shop.
“I got more calls on this today than I have probably anything in the last six months,” Ward 7 council member Clayton Sumner said.
The city recently purchased the building and adjacent land at Ninth and Main streets — where the Phoenix Building and Holland Opera House once stood — from Cravens’ son for $500,000. The parcel includes several parking spaces between Blue Streak and the Hopkinsville Municipal Center’s parking lot. Knight has said getting possession of those spaces will allow the city to make the entire parking lot alongside city hall more presentable.
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Mayor outlines vision for downtown development
Knight said the city will seek proposals from private developers to buy the large open lot at Ninth and Main streets and construct a building with retail and residential spaces. The new construction should complement downtown’s remaining historic buildings, he said.
The mayor has said several times that he does not want to see a parking lot or green space developed on the lot. He told Hoptown Chronicle he wants the city to construct a parking garage on the city’s parking lot on South Virginia Street between Seventh and Eighth streets.
Council members raise questions
Sumner and others on the council said the city should have known about the condition of the Blue Streak building before buying it.
“How in the world did we get suckered into buying something like this?” Sumner asked. He said he was embarrassed that he approved the purchase without seeking more information. No one would buy a home without an inspection, he said.
Ward 9 council member Brittanie Bogard asked, “Is the building repairable at all?”
Gardner responded, “I always tell my clients, if you’ve got enough time and enough money, yes. Repairable, yes, but I don’t have a cost estimate.”
City Attorney Doug Willen weighed in, addressing the significance of the engineer’s assessment of an “imminent” danger of collapse.
“When it’s imminent, then if this body does not pay attention to the advice from the engineer that’s been retained, and ignores that advice and there is a failure and there is a personal injury or death, then there is serious liability, personally and for the city,” said Willen.
Futrell, whose department oversees building code enforcement, said the city will have to coordinate with state highway officials to close Ninth Street in front of the Blue Streak building before East Construction begins demolition. City officials later announced the street will be closed between South Main and South Virginia streets beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 30.
Hoptown Chronicle engagement editor Julia Hunter contributed to this report.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
