The Fayette City Council passed a resolution to authorize a demolition permit for nearly a block of buildings on the west side of the downtown square. The action came during its regular meeting on Tuesday, November 9. 

As was reported in the October 28 Fayette Advertiser, Central Methodist University plans to demolish the buildings in order to redevelop the site with a new building that will house up to 60 students while providing a dozen retail storefronts. The project is estimated to cost around $6.5 million.

Two of the four buildings that will be demolished were formerly found to be dangerous at a hearing by the city council in December 2020. The finding was based on two engineering reports.

Northwest Ward Alderman Jeremy Dawson raised several points regarding the plan. He cited several issues surrounding the project, such as zoning, parking, and historic preservation. However, he voted in favor of authorizing the issuance of the demolition permit.

Nathan Nicholaus, the city’s attorney, discussed several of the issues brought forward by Dawson during discussion of the matter. “I understand there are issues about the zoning, this doesn’t have anything to do with what the zoning’s going to be, and this doesn’t really have anything to do with what will be built after (the demolition),” he explained. “The historic preservation commission did meet, did discuss this. If you look at the ordinance, it says that they can hold a public hearing. They did not. They can require an application. They have no application process, so they did not do that.

“What they did meets everything that is in the ordinances as it is today,” Nicholaus said.

It has not been announced when the buildings are expected to be demolished, nor when new construction will commence. Central Methodist President Roger Drake told this newspaper in October that under ideal circumstances he would like to see the project completed by the start of the fall semester in August 2022. However, given Missouri weather and delays that often occur with projects of this magnitude, it would likely be ready for students and businesses to move in for the 2023-24 academic year.