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Merino’s not ready yet
by Jennifer
Reece
Reporter
HUDSON - A wall
collapse at the new Merino’s Beer and Wine
business downtown may cause more headaches for
the project, which is already behind
schedule.
Crews were scheduled for a Nov.
19 deadline to complete the first level of the
building, though City Engineer Dave McCallops
said it is now anticipated to take another
several days to finish that work, regardless of
the wall problem.
The total cost to the
city for Merino’s move, which includes
construction, relocating and loss of business
expenses, will be in excess of
$218,000.
McCallops said on Wednesday, as
crews were working to finish a block wall to
support an exterior ramp and stairs ascending to
the second floor of the building, a wall
collapsed.
No one was injured, and
McCallops said he was not sure if the collapse
would further delay the opening of the business,
since the second floor is only intended to be
used for storage.
McCallops said it is
possible the first floor could be opened to
shoppers, even though outside access to the
second floor would not be finished.
The
Merino family’s representative, Norman Grace,
said Thursday that the owners never anticipated
being out of business for this length of
time.
“They [the city] have been doing
what they said they were doing, but it has just
taken a lot longer,” Grace said. “This has
definitely impacted them [the Merinos]. They
won’t be open for Thanksgiving; and the holidays
are their most productive time of the
year.”
Nearly two weeks ago, Council
members expressed concern over the length of
time the project has taken.
The city is
paying the owners of Merino’s Beer and Wine $468
each day in lost business revenue until the
building is finished and ready to
open.
According to the original agreement
between the city and Merino’s, the actual
closure of the business due to the move was
estimated to be between 30 and 50
days.
So far, the city owes Merino’s for
more than 90 days of lost business.
The
city owed the Merinos $234 per day for the first
30 days of construction and $468 for each day
beyond that timeframe, according to the
agreement signed by the Merinos and city
officials.
Even before the wall collapse,
McCallops said four structural items and one
architectural problem contributed to the delays
in getting the building completed.
The
Merino’s building was moved from its previous
location on North Main Street in mid-August to
its new home on First Street.
The
building could not stay where it was because a
road extension was needed to tie into the new
downtown redevelopment project, city officials
said.
E-mail:
jreece@recordpub.net
Phone: 330-688-0088,
ext. 3145
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