(Lander, Wyo.) – The planned demolition of derelict buildings on Shoshoni’s Main Street has been put on hold. At this week’s Fremont County Solid Waste Disposal District Board meeting, Superintendent Andy Frey said the needed paperwork to proceed had not been completed within the needed time frame.
The Fremont County Council of Governments had voted to provide dump trucks from each of the member municipalities to assist with the debris haul to the Shoshoni landfill. Additionally, the county commissioners had agreed to let the solid waste district use a county-owned excavator for the demolition, but only for two weeks due to the number of county road projects waiting for the excavator. One week of the allotted time was taken up getting the necessary Memorandum of Understanding in place between all the parties.
“That’s just not enough time to get the work done,” Frey told his board, “we needed two full weeks for the demolition.” Additionally, he said it was determined a power line next to the old hotel had to be moved and Rocky Mountain Power had to schedule that work and that hauling the debris from the site would take another two weeks. “It’ll be a month-long project from start to finish,” he said.
Frey said the district would try again later this fall after the county’s excavator completes culvert replacement and cattle guard crossing installations.
In preparation for the demolition, a dirt berm was placed over the curb, gutter and sidewalks in front of the derelict buildings to protect the concrete from damage during the work and some equipment had been mobilized to the site. The equipment was recalled this week when Frey said it was obvious that there was not enough time to get the work done.
Mayor Scott Peters of Shoshoni said the demolition of the east side of Main Street where the abandoned buildings sit was a priority of his term in office to free up space for economic development. Other abandoned buildings around town were also taken down and the sites cleaned up. The downtown project was the last to be accomplished. The town had purchased the lots the buildings sit on and asbestos mitigation had already taken place.