A 125-year-old brick building scheduled for the wrecking ball in downtown Crothersville has been approved by the board of directors of Indiana Historic Landmarks as a remediation project for the preservation organization, according to Greg Sekula, regional representative of the organization.
The 2-story building, built in 1891, at the stoplight corner originally served on the second floor as the meeting hall for the International Order of Odd Fellows Lodge in Crothersville. The street level portion has served as pharmacies, barbershops, retail shops and the local library over the decades until it fell into disrepair over the past several years.
The Jackson County commissioners currently own the certificate of ownership due to delinquent property taxes.
The town has agreed to use $40,000 formerly earmarked for demolition to give to the Indiana Historic Landmarks to assist with the preservation effort.
Title to the property will go from the county to IHL and after remediation, they will market the building to a new owner.
“This is great news that this project will be moving forward,” said town council president Ardell Mitchell. “I hope we can work to help find a buyer and years from now we will see this building remain.”
Indiana Historic Landmarks will be replacing some brick, tuck pointing the structure, replacing the roof all to shore up the building and make it structurally sound.
Interior remodeling would be left to a future buyer to design the way that suits their business need.
Kovert-Hawkins of Jeffersonville is donating architectural services for the project, Mitchell said. Architect Hal Kovert is a Crothersville native and has been involved the the remodeling of Crothersville Community Schools and assisted the Greater Crothersville Heritage Foundation with design ideas for the present Hamacher Hall Cultural Arts Center.
Work on the IOOF building is expected to begin later this summer.
