November 07, 2024
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La Salle council discusses next steps for Kaskaskia, brewpub projects

CL waits for Kaskaskia building report, Brewpub project seeks contractor

By Olivia Doak
An aerial view of the Hotel Kaskaskia on Thursday, June 16, 2022 downtown La Salle. City of La Salle officials obtained a search warrant of the property and toward the facility.

An aerial view of the Hotel Kaskaskia on Thursday, June 16, 2022 downtown La Salle. City of La Salle officials inspected the property with a third party engineer and representatives from building owner CL Enterprises on June 16. (Scott Anderson)

The Kaskaskia Hotel renovation and brewpub project are on hold until La Salle city officials get more information from building owners CL Enterprises.

As of Monday’s City Council meeting, CL is waiting to receive the Kaskaskia building inspection report from La Salle. CL also still is seeking a contractor for the brewpub project at 801-805 First St, according to Alderman Jerry Reynolds.

La Salle city officials inspected both buildings, along with a third-party engineer and representatives from CL on June 16 because of safety concerns.

Reynolds serves as the communication liaison between La Salle and CL. He acknowledged residents’ impatience on seeing the projects completed.

“These kind of projects aren’t something like when you fix a light bulb,” Reynolds said, citing material shortages and overbooked contractors as hurdles to both projects’ progress.

The brewpub project is out for bid and Reynolds said CL received no response from any contractors as of Monday.

The Maytag building at 801-805 First Street downtown La Salle on Wednesday, July 20

The Maytag building at 801-805 First Street downtown La Salle on Wednesday, July 20 (Olivia Doak — odoak@shawmedia.com)

The renovation of the Maytag building at 801-805 First St. in downtown La Salle is a $4.5 million, 13,000 square foot redevelopment project to turn the building into the Rocket Brewpub.

When the Kaskaskia building report was released on Friday, CL said it did not yet receive the report. Reynolds confirmed CL still does not have the report as of Monday. Once the report is received, CL said on Friday it will consult with its architect and engineer regarding next steps for the Kaskaskia renovation.

The building report showed structural problems in the garage area and some issues with the front facade of the hotel.

“The hotel itself structurally is fine,” Building Inspector Andy Bacidore said.

The Kaskaskia is undergoing a $30 million project to restore the six-story, historic hotel in downtown La Salle. CL plans to renovate and restore the many rooms for upscale living spaces, the ballroom, Wedgewood Room, Side Bar and Second Street retail uses.

An inspection team completes a walk- through of the second floor of the garage at the Kaskaskia Hotel to look for any safety or structural concerns on June 16, 2022.

An inspection team completes a walk- through of the second floor of the garage at the Kaskaskia Hotel to look for any safety or structural concerns on June 16, 2022. (Photo provided by Wendler Engineer)

Mayor Jeff Grove asked Bacidore and Reynolds to come up with a timetable for the fixes in the garage since the area is a danger. Bacidore said he’ll sit down with CL and discuss next steps, saying CL will either fix it, like when the Brewpub building report came out, or move forward with the project.

Bacidore said CL may be able to move forward with the project without immediately addressing the main concern from the building report, which is the north wall of the garage pulling away in one direction.

“Out of all of them, that’s the main concern,” Bacidore said. “I don’t think it’s a showstopper in terms of them moving forward with (the project).”

Reynolds said CL President Nathan Watson is out of the office for two weeks, but he will return in a week. Reynolds said he will have more information on the progress of both projects at the next council meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, at 745 Second St. in La Salle.