Demolition in Florence
Small community says goodbye to vacant buildings
Trending
FLORENCE -- The city of Florence didn't have much left in the way of old Main Street buildings. On Monday morning, it was the end for three of the last of them.
"It will be in a pile tomorrow," said Craig Sanderson. Sanderson was using an excavator to tear down a trio of vacant brick buildings at the corner of Blaine Street and Harrison Avenue in Florence.
While the buildings did have a historical connection to Florence, local residents said it was time for them to go.
"It's kind of a mix of sadness and nostalgia," said Chuck Anderson. Chuck and his wife Judy were among the local residents watching the demolition on Monday.
"It's good they're coming down," said Florence Mayor Susan Johnson. The buildings, which included a former bank, bar and general store, had been vacant for years and weren't in good condition, Johnson and other local residents said. From the outside, the buildings were a scene of broken and boarded-up windows, tall weeds and vines.
Florence has a population of just 28, going by the 2020 census. But in the past the community was larger, and had several businesses that benefited from the nearby railroad line, like hotels, an elevator and a lumberyard, residents said.
"There was a lot of stuff here," Johnson said.
The three buildings at the corner of Blaine Street and Harrison Avenue used to be a store, a bar, and a former bank building that became a post office, Anderson said.
The buildings had an unusual chapter in their history in 2010, when they briefly became the site of a business featuring nude dancers.
"It wasn't a good situation," Johnson said. The business became part of a court battle for the city, she said.
The city of Florence said the business violated city ordinances prohibiting "sexually oriented businesses" in residential areas, U.S. District Court records said. In 2011, the business's owner, Dale Owen Peterson, filed a lawsuit against the city, seeking to have the ordinance declared unconstitutional.
The court ruled in favor of the city. Owen appealed the case, but in 2013 the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.
Florence residents said the buildings had been vacant for some time before the current property owner decided to tear them down. Demolition started around 8 a.m. Monday. The work attracted onlookers coming and going along Blaine Street.
The sound of demolition alerted some residents in the small community.
"At about 8:30, I was out on my deck, and I said, 'I think they're starting,'" Anderson said.
Florence resident Robin Perea got an up-close look at the demolition from her home next door to the vacant buildings. Perea said she first heard the demolition noise while she was out on a walk that morning.
Perea had some mixed feelings about the demolition. She said the buildings helped shield her house from snowdrifts in the winter. But at the same time, with the buildings gone she'd have a view of the city park on the other side of Blaine Street.
"It's kind of interesting to watch," Florence residents said of the demolition.