Demolition of historic Williamsburg building sparks lawsuit

Owners of an adjacent salon say the demolition of the old Gorman Jones building in Williamsburg has caused damage to their business.

The recent demolition of a historic, downtown Williamsburg building has sparked a lawsuit from business owners who claim their business was damaged in the process.

Ron and Donna Whitaker, owners of The Scissor’s Edge Salon on Main Street, filed a lawsuit in Whitley Circuit Court on April 3 against Superior Demolition, Inc., the city of Williamsburg and the Whitley County Library District Board of Trustees. In the civil complaint, the couple claims their building was damaged when the adjacent Gorman Jones Building was torn down in January.
Superior Demolition won a bid to tear down the building in Dec. 2013 for $58,800. The company is based in Lexington. The cost of demolition was split evenly between the Library Board and the City of Williamsburg.

The Whitley County Public Library Board purchased the Jones Building in 2011 for $25,000 from an asset management company in hopes of using it as either a new library or a site for a new library. Structural reviews of the building quickly determined it to be unsuitable for use in its current condition. Library officials say the cost to repair it was too high.

The building was marketed for a time to possible buyers but to no avail.

The building was constructed in the late 1800s and has been home to Davis’ Grocery, Triplett’s Grocery, Hurley’s Food Market, Leisure Time Hobbies and Leisure Time Pool and was even used as apartments for a time. It was purchased by Gorman Jones in 2004. He has since died.

Corbin attorney David O. Smith is representing the Whitakers in the case. In the lawsuit, he claims the demolition was done “without regard to the rights, life and property” of his clients and that the move “created an imminent danger of injury or death to the Plaintiffs and/or their customers …”

The Gorman Jones building and the one owned by the Whitakers shared a common wall. According to minutes from the Feb. 27 meeting of the library board, demolition “left the common wall shared with the next door business unstable and damage to their roof was also incurred.” Costs for repairs are estimated between $23,000 and $25,000.

The complaint also alleges that the defendants “refused to make emergency repairs to the Plaintiff’s real estate to make it safe for the owner and others.”

The library board actually did approve $1,475 for repairs made to The Scissor’s Edge by Tri-County Builders in the wake of the demolition.

No formal response has yet been filed in the case.