HIRE A REPUTABLE DALLAS COMMERCIAL ROOFING CONTRACTOR TO PRESERVE YOUR HISTORICAL BUIDLING

HIRE A REPUTABLE DALLAS COMMERCIAL ROOFING CONTRACTOR TO PRESERVE YOUR HISTORICAL BUIDLING

When dealing with roof damage, special precautions have to be taken to ensure that internal damage can be avoided to its highest.  Especially when the Dallas commercial roof is a historical building.

“Mary Ann Heidemann had seen pictures of water damage inside Duluth’s Carter Hotel building.”

“But when Heidemann, the Minnesota Historic Preservation Office’s manager of government programs and compliance, arrived to inspect the building this week, she was unprepared for what she found.”

“We thought we would be dealing with a leaky roof, not a roof removal,” Heidemann said.

“Glen Filipovich, president of the Duluth Preservation Alliance, toured the building with Heidemann on Tuesday and said he was shocked to find the building so exposed to the elements.”

“They had removed the roofing right down to the sheathing, and there were gaps between the sheathing boards. You could see daylight all over the place,” Filipovich said, recalling the sun rays he saw streaming in from a section of torn-out ceiling on the former hotel’s top floor.”

“Heidemann described encountering ice as thick as 2 inches in the building’s hallways.”

“It won’t be very pleasant once that thaws out. So debris removal is something I think would be necessary on an emergency basis. That, and getting some temporary protection over the roof,” she said.

“Both the Historical Preservation Office and staff from the city of Duluth are exploring what might be done to save the 83-year-old Carter Hotel from destruction.”

“The Lake Superior Band of Fond du Lac Chippewa, which owns the building at 29 N. Second Ave. E. as well as the neighboring Fond-du-Luth Casino, has proposed that the building be torn down.”

“Karen Diver, the band’s chairwoman, said she’s willing to consider alternatives.”

“I think the band remains open to options on that site,” she said. “We were hoping to demolish it. That’s the most cost-effective. But if it’s possible to find middle ground, I think we’re open to that, as long as it’s cost-effective.”

“Deputy City Attorney Alison Lutterman agreed the interior of the former hotel probably is a lost cause.”

“It’s going to require a gut job, but that doesn’t mean it’s not salvageable,” she said, noting that the building’s foundation and brick exterior walls appear sound.

“Heidemann said maintaining the interior of the building is of less concern than preserving the exterior facade and the character of the local streetscape. The former hotel is considered a contributing element in a historic downtown district that has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.”

“The Carter Hotel for me is not a particularly significant building. But it is in a historic district, and every building in that district is considered a contributing structure,” Filipovich said.

“This is a case where the sum is greater than the parts,” he said.

“Diver said more information will need to be gathered before proceeding.”

“We might do a little research to see if there’s any option to preserve the façade. I don’t know if structurally that’s possible, but it’s something I think we’re willing to explore, but only if it’s cost-effective,” she said.

“The Fond du Lac Band has applied to have the hotel, which it purchased for $318,000 in December 2010, placed in federal trust as tribal property. If the Bureau of Indian Affairs grants the request, the property will be removed from local tax rolls and will be placed under the band’s jurisdiction.”

“Diver said the BIA requires the removal of all hazardous materials from a property before it will consider placing it in trust. Following the bureau’s lead, she said the band hired a contractor to identify hazardous materials on site and then remove them. Some of the problems found included asbestos, lead paint and some mercury.”

“We paid out of our own funds for those materials to be abated in the spring of last year,” Diver said.

“She said the roofing was removed because of the need to rid the structure of asbestos, and the contractor used plywood and tarps to protect the structure temporarily while the band waited for word from the BIA on the status of its trust request.”

“But in the meantime, the June flood happened,” she said. “It probably would have fared just fine in any normal summer with the temporary measures. But with that much water, it was just too much.”

“As for attempting to clean up water damage inside the hotel, Diver said the band didn’t see much use spending more time and money on a building whose interior appeared to be beyond salvage. Even before the flood, she said the Carter had significant problems, including a main-floor beam that was bowing.”

“Filipovich said he remains bothered by both the band’s actions and inaction.”

“Filipovich expressed skepticism that modern roofing materials would contain asbestos. City records show the hotel’s roof was replaced in 1997 with a single-ply rubber membrane.”

“Regardless, Filipovich contends anyone could have predicted the consequences of removing the building’s roofing.”

“Although a BIA official denied responsibility for the roof’s condition at Tuesday’s consultation, Heidemann said she still doesn’t know exactly whom to hold responsible.”

“The question is whether the removal of roofing materials was part of the BIA undertaking, and if it was, then they’re responsible for it,” she said.

“Scott Sufficool, a regional environmental specialist who represented the BIA at Tuesday’s consultation in Duluth, did not respond to the News Tribune’s request for an interview late Wednesday afternoon.”

“Setting aside any discussion of responsibility, Lutterman said the roof job still would have required a permit from the city, and no permits for the work were pulled.”

“Diver said the band had hired a reputable contractor with the understanding that the firm would attend to those sorts of details.”

“All of that was the requirement of our contractor,” she said. “It was a part of their contract that they would do it in accordance with whatever regulations were in place.”

“Diver said she’s a bit perplexed by the resistance the band has encountered in its efforts to take down the former hotel in hopes of reusing the property for a yet-to-be-determined redevelopment.”

“Certainly this building, not being constructed by a noteworthy architect nor having any noteworthy architecture about it, would seem ripe for redevelopment in order to reinvest in that end of the downtown,” she said.

“Diver observed that other old downtown buildings have been removed with little controversy.”

“We never heard a peep when they tore down the three buildings to build the parking ramp or when they put in the new Sheraton. Some of the other redevelopment in downtown has happened pretty much without a peep from the city of Duluth or any of the preservation groups,” she said.

“Diver suggested the future of the Carter might be clouded by an ongoing dispute between the band and the city over a casino revenue-sharing agreement the National Indian Gaming Commission has declared unlawful. At stake is more than $6 million per year that the city used to receive from the Fond-du-Luth Casino, which is operated by the band.”

“One can’t help but wonder if this process isn’t being abused as a result of the Fond-du-Luth dispute rather than an actual opposition of any historical nature,” she said.

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