Former Tasty Nut Shop to be razed next week
WHITE PIGEON – A portion of a historical building in White Pigeon collapsed Thursday, prompting an expedited plan to demolish the entire structure.
Doug Kuhlman, village zoning administrator, said a lower-level wall at the southwest corner of the former Tasty Nut Shop collapsed onto the sidewalk along the east side of South Kalamazoo Street.
Kuhlman said the collapse occurred around 2 p.m.
Under the circumstances, state officials have authorized Kuhlman to arrange an immediate tear-down of the three-story building.
He said the demolition will occur at 9 a.m. Tuesday – assuming the building is still standing by then.
“Within an hour after I was notified, we had a county commissioner there, our insurance company was there, (White Pigeon) DPW was in full force, Morris Excavating came out to help get the area secured and I was on the phone to the state of Michigan; I told them we’ve got a problem,” Kuhlman said. “I reminded them they required me to take a training course before demolition begins, which they haven’t even scheduled for me yet, but I’ve got a building in a state of collapse now.”
Considering the seriousness of the situation, the State Land Bank Authority advised Kuhlman to immediately organize a demolition team and the agency will compile and issue the necessary paperwork retroactively. In addition, Kuhlman was told to forego the training, he said.
The State Land Bank Authority last month issued the village a grant in excess of $575,000 to cover costs related to demolition of the 160-year-old building. It was condemned in October 2021 and vacated in February 2022.
A demolition crew will be mobilized Monday in advance of the demolition to take place the following day.
“Right now, the only thing that’s holding up the second and third stories is the (safety) net they put up on the exterior of the southwest corner of the building a few years ago,” Kuhlman said, explaining the portion that collapsed was likely weakened by water runoff. “Water was coming in through the leaky roof, then coming down through the bricks, got down to the ground floor, filtered out between bricks at the sidewalk level and then (the portion of the building) just gave way.”
Later in the day Thursday, Michigan Department of Transportation had erected “road closed” signs, as a traffic-control arrow is shifting eastbound U.S. 12 traffic away from the curb lane, Kuhlman said.
He expects demolition crews to use a tool called a hydro-stick to raze the building. It will allow workers to level the structure methodically starting from the top and then work their way down, Kuhlman noted.
“We knew the building would be coming down, I think we were looking at some time in June,” he said. “But it’s coming down a lot quicker than any of us thought; it has to.”
Located at 100 and 102 E. Chicago Road, the former Tasty Nut Shop anchors one-fourth of the village’s main intersection, at U.S. 12 and Kalamazoo Street.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Former Tasty Nut Shop to be razed next week
