WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
A crowd of onlookers stood by Tuesday morning to witness demolition of the former Tasty Nut Shop.
Despite a 90-minute delay in beginning the process – and an unexpected abbreviated amount of work – the historic building in downtown White Pigeon started coming down around 10:30 a.m.
Doug Kuhlman, village zoning administrator, said the less-than-expected amount of work conducted Tuesday was intentional. The priority was to reduce the upper-level stress being applied to a vulnerable corner of the building, he said. Late last week, a ground-level portion of its southwest corner gave way, hastening the demolition process.
With that part of the work done, Kuhlman said there’s a chance specially trained workers would have been brought in Wednesday to conduct asbestos abatement.
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.
In advance of the work that started Tuesday, Michigan Department of Transportation had removed the overhead traffic signal at U.S. 12 and Kalamazoo Street. It also closed both routes, forcing detours around the village’s downtown intersection and away from the work being done at its southeast corner.
About four semi-trailer loads of mulch were brought in and scattered around the perimeter of the building to absorb falling debris, saving the adjacent sidewalk and roadways from potential blemishes caused by tumbling bricks and other materials.
