Press release received from the City of Salida
February 25, 2011
The City of Salida today filed suit in District Court to gain unobstructed access to the Unique Theater to perform the long awaited stabilization of the building. Diesslin Structures (DSI) has been under contract to perform the work since late last year. The City had delayed the work giving Salcat Properties LLC (Salcat) the opportunity to resolve the structural deficiencies in the manner that they felt was in their best business interest. Salcat’s well publicized plan was to demolish the back portion of the building which has been focus of the structural problems since 2005. The first step in the demolition of the back was to remove asbestos. That work started but was soon halted due the discovery of additional asbestos not identified in the initial asbestos mitigation report and subsequent permit from the State of Colorado. The contractor has not returned.
“The City would certainly have preferred for the owner to take care of this issue on their own. We believe that more than adequate time has passed for the work to have been completed. We have been in consistent contact with Salcat’s local representative and could never determine when the work would be done,” stated Jack Lewis, City Administrator.
The law suit seeks a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to prevent the owner from interfering with the work DSI will perform. It will also establish that Salcat is responsible to reimburse the City for the work. Lewis said, “The people of Salida should not be responsible for the cost of stabilizing the Unique. We want to assure our citizens that we are doing all we can to place that responsibility on Salcat.”
Did I read somewhere that the City gave some sort of financial assistance to Salcat with this building , either for the initial purchase or for some other reason after the purchase . If this is the case , I am wondering why . Also , who paid for the work exposing the front of this building and is this building in any part of the foreclosure process or default on it’s loans .
I believe I have seen for sale signs at this property and it looks like it is being offered in several pieces .How will that affect the restoration of the building in the future . I think this would be a proper place for a City of Salida Museum given the history of the building . I would like to see pictures of this place in it’s heyday .