Storm damage delays opening of business
By Joey Berlin
Originally published 02:39 p.m., June 19, 2008
Updated 02:39 p.m., June 19, 2008
The new owners of the old Modine Manufacturing building won’t be able to open their warehouse distribution and manufacturing operation there for a while.
A section of the building’s roof measuring about 20 feet by 100 feet blew off during one of the recent storms in town, said Elvis Lindquist, one of the property’s new owners.
“And then the part that didn’t blow up, the top kind of folded up the rest of it,” Lindquist said. “I mean, you’re talking about a quarter of a million dollars in damage.”
He said that after finally taking control of the building in March, the owners’ first task was to fix “gigantic” holes in the floor where machines used to go, as well as put in new concrete. The roof needed to be fixed anyway, he said, because machines and fans that had previously been in the roof had been taken out.
“The building needed a lot of work,” he said. “Skaters had gotten in there and did some vandalism.”
Lindquist said work on the building was pretty close to completion before the storm took out the section of roof. The total amount of work now will cost $300,000 to $350,000, he said. Insurance will pick up some of that cost.
It’s hoped that work will be finished on the building by the middle or end of July, with the business in operation sometime between the beginning and middle of August.
Co-owners of the building with Lindquist are Steven Lanier of Augusta and the company Sunflower LLC. Ress Properties, a freight distribution business founded last year, will operate out of the building. Lanier and Lindquist are both members of Ress, whose spokesman is Emporian David Jamison.
The owners are in negotiations with other companies that are interested in using the property, according to Lindquist.
“We can’t do much ‘til the roof’s fixed,” he said. “We’ve got people that want to see ... the building.”