By Melanie Stegner

news@pctribune.com

The fate of the Fremad building is still hanging in the balance after a review of the structural engineering report at last week’s HRA/EDA meeting. The HRA/EDA had hired Sandman Structural Engineers to evaluate the building as well as the buildings adjacent to the Fremad. The evaluation was completed on August 12. 

The Fremad, originally built in 1893 and remodeled in 1919, abuts against the Law Building to the north and another building owned by Tom Buysse to the west, which facilitated the need for those buildings to be evaluated as well. 

The Law Building foundation wall that is adjacent to the Fremad is created from concrete with brick fill between the floor joists and is showing some signs of its age as evidenced by the presence of material piled at the floor of the basement. The report notes that the building “measured roughly 70 feet by 22 feet in plan dimensions and there were no interior shear walls noted on the first level, partial walls exist but none match both vertically and horizontally to function as a shear wall that provides lateral support for the building.

The Buysse building was built on a slab with no basement right against the Fremad as the exterior bricks from the building can be seen through an opening above a bathroom inside the Buysse. This building relies on the Fremad as part of its structure. “So, that (building) is basically a lean-to,” said Barry Hegg.  

Sandman accessed the Fremad from the roof to start the inspection of the building. The roof is vented with four whirlybirds and three of them are missing their tops creating open holes in the roof. The rubber membrane of the roof is in average condition. Mortar joints at the chimney are in poor condition. The joists are supported by a series of four four-foot six-inch timber trusses that have two sets of rod-style x-bracing from truss to truss to brace the bottom chords. In the places that the bracing connection was visible, there were missing bolts and the connection had rolled over, causing it to lose strength. There is also water damage and dry rot in the roof joists.

“The second floor of the Fremad was found to be occupied by a large population of pigeons,” said Sandman. Isolated areas of the floor were open for progress modifications. Several of the floor joists had four-and-a-half inch wide by four-inch-deep notches cut into them. The notching of the joists has reduced their capacity by over 30 percent. Several mezzanines on the second level were thinly framed and moved while walking on them. The openings for the second-floor winders were not properly framed using headers, king studs and jacks, it was stated.

“The sill plate interrupting the king stud has created a hinge in the wall framing creating a four-inch outward bow in the wall at sill height. Brick was replaced at this elevation at some point. The levelness of the floor was found to vary considerably, measuring a difference of two and a half inches lower at the building edges. There was a dramatic drop in the floor in the middle of the open area on the south side which was found to drop seven and a half inches. This area was very bouncy and felt unstable while walking on it,” according to the report. 

The floor plan of the main level was difficult to gather much information due to the choppy floor plan and widespread finishes. The basement was noted to be in a very moist condition and the concrete surfaces were damp. The thin concrete slab has broken up in many areas and broke under footfall due to voids in the thin surface. Heaving from frost has been wreaking havoc with that surface and wet soil from lack of heat. The foundation is stack stone that appeared to be in decent condition. There were areas in the past that were repaired with brick and additional mortar added to the joints. The mortar was wet up to roughly four feet above the floor and softer in areas. There are many framing deficiencies on the first floor that can be seen from the basement. Several areas where floor joists and beams were cut off and not resupported were seen along with areas where beams were removed entirely leaving unsupported framing. One column from the area of the second floor that was unstable has punched through the first-floor decking by roughly eight inches because the beam below is was removed and not resupported. 

Sandman’s report indicated that any reuse of the structure would have to be brought up to today’s code requirements which would mean almost a complete rebuild. “The building in its current state is not safe to occupy,” the report states.

If the Fremad were to be removed, the adjoining structures will have issues. The Buysse building would have one side of the building exposed and would not be able to support itself laterally to be a free-standing building. The Law Building shares common walls but appears to be self-supporting from a gravity load perspective. “There appeared to have been a new wall constructed adjacent to the Fremad to support the floor framing from what could be observed. Unfortunately, this is also ride-along to the Fremad which means the Law Building does not have the lateral support system to be a free-standing building and lacks the internal stability from wind loads that would be provided by shear walls. The Fremad currently provides these buildings’ shelter.”

There is no wall that the bricks are adhered to causing structural challenges. “Good thing we don’t have earthquakes, it’s like a tower of Legos and is really scary,” said Greg Vold. It was mentioned at the meeting that a discussion needs to be had with the county on how to address the risks that have been identified. “We should be asking people that want to go in and look at it to sign a waiver, it’s dangerous,” said Barry Hegg. 

The board made a motion to accept the report and Jason Murray is going to have a conversation with Pope County Administrator Kersten Kappmeyer to determine next steps. “The unfinished rooms and construction have made it really dangerous. It’s sad because from the outside it doesn’t look that bad, but it’s really concerning,” said Alan Rutter, “it’s useful life is pretty much gone.”

The DEED grant for Kingdom Kids was submitted and a read receipt was received. More information should be known in late September/early October. “In my opinion the weakest part of the application is that there is no purchase agreement regarding the building, but that’s also where the need for the grant comes,” said Jason Murray.

We need to be sure that it’s understood that the HRA/EDA is just the pass-through for the grant and isn’t involved as a stakeholder for any of the parties,” said Lori Vaadeland. 

HRA/EDA member Jason Rupp met with Douglas County Habitat for Humanity to discuss partnering with them. “It’s a lengthy process and would probably be 2024-2025 before anything can happen. Douglas County can accept the properties as that is part of the process, but for them to come back into this area is an issue to be addressed nationally and not at the state level,” he stated.