Photo by Deb Gau A former pool hall, a former meat locker and a former grocery store are among the vacant buildings on Cottonwood’s Main Street that the city is seeking to demolish. On Tuesday, the Lyon County Board voted to appropriate $100,000 in funding to help Cottonwood with hazardous building removal.

COTTONWOOD — The buildings on the east end of Cottonwood’s downtown are among some of the oldest in the community. Unfortunately they’re also in rough shape, with roof damage and other hazards, said Cottonwood City Clerk-Administrator Teather Bliss.

The city of Cottonwood is in the process of clearing out a total of five vacant properties along Main Street to make way for potential new development. But the process has turned out to be more costly than anticipated. On Tuesday, Lyon County commissioners approved a request for $100,000 in economic development funding to help with the demolition.

“I appreciate everything you guys are doing for Cottonwood and for the county,” Bliss said.

Bliss said the city of Cottonwood has been working on acquiring and removing hazardous materials from five neighboring properties along Main Street. The buildings date back to the early 1900s, and include a former pool hall, a former meat locker and a former grocery store.

“They have seen little to no maintenance over the years,” Bliss said.

In some places, the roofs of the structures have fallen in, she said. Given their age, the buildings also had asbestos and other hazardous materials.

Bliss said the city of Cottonwood had planned for a cost of about $27,000 for asbestos removal in the buildings, and about $100,000 to demolish them. However, the costs of removing hazardous materials and getting the properties shovel-ready were higher than expected.

“We’re going to have to stub in new water and sewer lines,” Bliss said.

The existing curb stops for the properties’ plumbing are located under Main Street instead of at the curb, she said.

The city was asking for $100,000 in county Economic Development Authority funds to help with removal of the buildings, Bliss said.

“It would get us toward our end goal,” she said.

The goal for Cottonwood will be to create three new parcels of land from the existing five properties on Main Street, which could be redeveloped, Bliss said. So far, two different parties have expressed interest in building on the property, she said.

The city can also pursue funding sources like redevelopment grants to help with future development of the parcels, Bliss said.

County commissioners were receptive to the city’s funding request.

“To me, this is a no-brainer,” said Commissioner Rick Anderson. “This is an EDA thing.”

Commissioners voted to approve an appropriation of $100,000 from county EDA funds to help Cottonwood with the removal of the vacant buildings.