It’s been over a month since Dr. Theresa McKinzie, owner of The Lincoln County Animal Hospital, has been able to work out of her office at 1218 Manvel.
She’s set up in a small house next door - allegedly the oldest in Chandler - unable to work at full capacity, she said. Her surgeries are limited, she can’t do full diagnostics, and she can’t board any animals. She’s even had to turn clients away.
“It’s been hard. It’s been really hard on my employees,” she said. “I’ve got four or five families that work for me, that depend on work and paychecks.”
McKinzie is forced out of her building until the two adjacent buildings, 1214 and 1216 Manvel, are safely demolished, allowing her to complete repairs. The demolition was approved by the Chandler City Council on April 8 after two public hearings to assess the St. Cloud’s condition following the roof being ripped off in a windstorm on March 19.
As of Tuesday morning, no timeline has been set, although City Manager Jason Orr stated that Midwest Wrecking Co. had been selected for the work as of April 16.
The vet said she’s been dealing with damage from the St. Cloud since she moved in 11 years ago. Her roof has needed repairing twice from falling bricks, and her employees have often cleaned up wood, glass and other debris on the sidewalk along Manvel after windstorms.
McKinzie said she always informed the owner and admitted that she never took any action, feeling it wasn’t enough to warrant the hassle.
“It’s an old building. I get it,” she said. “But you do have to maintain them. You literally have to maintain them or they fall down.”
Reports from the public hearings, detailing inspections carried out by Code Enforcement Officer Scott Wintz and Jacob Jones, an engineer from KFC Engineering in OKC, outlined extensive long-term structural deterioration, as well as damage resulting from the roof being blown off. There were photos and accounts of rotted and warped wood, holes in the second floor and roof, walls that have shifted, making them less structurally sound, among other issues, according to Wintz and Rick Forrest, principal engineer from KFC.
Additionally, Forrest stated that, in his opinion, the metal roof was not installed correctly.
“If it was a 51-mile-an-hour wind, in Oklahoma, in Chandler, if we’re designing a building, even back then, the wind speed at which things should start getting damaged is about 110 to 112 miles an hour, okay? More than double the 51(mph)… that roof is nowhere close to originally designed per code,” he said at the April 8 meeting.
Wintz said he could not find a permit for the roof. One of the owners, John Givens, said he installed it himself around 25 to 30 years ago. He has owned the buildings since the 1980s, before selling to Larry Braswell in 2014 through a contract for deed. This means that Givens holds the titles until Braswell completes payment. Tax rolls from the county treasurer list Givens as the owner of 1214 and Braswell as the owner of 1216, according to Wintz.
Both have protested the demolition. Givens claimed that the City never asked him if he had the funds for repair work, adding he could put up about $500,000.
Additionally, Givens said he was already starting some work. He appeared before the City Council in February, requesting permission to reinstall the balcony over the sidewalk. City Manager Jason Orr instructed him to file the proper paperwork and apply for a building permit.
The impending loss of the historic buildings has saddened the residents of Chandler. Jim Crouch used to work in the St. Cloud for Diener Mills in the 1970s, and was shocked by its current appearance.
“Gosh, that building looks horrible,” Crouch said. “I hate to see it torn down. I don’t know the answer… I hate to see it gone.”
McKinzie said the big loser in all of this is the people of Chandler.
“The people of Chandler are losing historic buildings. Historic buildings that everybody likes,” she said, adding that the City of Chandler will probably never get the money back for the demolition.
It is estimated to cost between $150,000 and $200,000, according to Wintz, and the City will cover the demolition costs, then place a lien on the property.
“No, they will never get paid back… the citizens of Chandler are going to be stuck with the bill,” McKinzie said. “So not only are they losing something, they’re having to pay for it.”