Details of Whitley Library lawsuit settlement revealed

Details regarding the settlement of a lawsuit filed after the demolition of a downtown Williamsburg building have been revealed.
Collectively, the Whitley County Public Library Board of Directors, the City of Williamsburg and Superior Demolition, Inc. will be required to pay Ron and Donna Whitaker, owners of The Scissor’s Edge Salon on Main Street, $60,000 in order to settle the lawsuit.

According to a settlement agreement between all the parties involved, the Whitley County Library will pay the biggest portion of the settlement — $35,000. Officials say the amount will be paid by the liability insurance carrier.

Superior Demolition will be required to pay $15,000 and The City of Williamsburg will pay $10,000.

The settlement has been approved by the library’s Board of Directors, but officials would not share the monetary amount of the settlement. The News Journal obtained a copy of the settlement, which was negotiated through Brian C. House Mediations, LLC in Longon.

The Whitakers filed the lawsuit on April 3, 2014 following the demolition of the old Gorman Jones building at the corner of Main and Third Streets. The Whitakers claimed demolition of the building caused structural damage to their business that shared a common wall.

The Whitley County Public Library Board of Trustees 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.

After a failed bid to market the building for sale, the library board awarded a $58,800 bid to Superior Demolition in December 2013 to demolish the building because of its dilapidated condition

The city of Williamsburg agreed to share the cost of the demolition 50-50 with the library, which bought the building in 2011.

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. Gorman Jones purchased it in 2004. He has since died.

In addition to the monetary payment, the Library Board also agreed to deed to the Whitakers a three-foot strip of land that runs parallel to the shared wall, and will also grant a construction easement of ingress and egress in order to perform work on the wall up to July 31.