(ABC 6 News) — At Monday’s meeting, the Albert Lea City Council voted to proceed with the removal of the former Broadway Theater building along with removal or repair of three other structures.

The council voted unanimously 6-0 in favor of the removal of the following buildings:

• Removal of the former theater building at 338 S. Broadway Ave.,
• Removal of the house at 809 W. Clark St. W.,
• Removal of the house at 915 Autumn Ave., and
• Removal or repair of the house and  garage at 819 Garfield Ave. This one may be saved by a private party.

The council is made up of seven members, but Councilor Rachel Christensen was absent, resulting in six votes.

The city will hire contractors to demolish the buildings and assess the costs to the property owner.

Former theater building

The former Broadway Theater, built in 1902, spans almost 9,000 square feet at the corner of Broadway Avenue and College Street. The building has passed through several owners over the decades who have changed the exterior and interior for various businesses. Past owners have removed the theater features on both the first and second levels since the movie theater moved to the Northbridge Mall in the 1990s.

City staff first started working with the current property owners in 2021 after inspectors noticed loose sandstone panels on the exterior of the south wall. At that time, the city barricaded the sidewalk along College Street to prevent pedestrians from being hit by falling debris above.

Then in 2022 the city hired an engineering firm called SEH to help plan for the demolition of the adjacent building, which shared a wall with the former theater. The city also wanted to document the condition of the theater building before removing the adjacent building. That evaluation revealed structural problems in the theater building and the city paid for a follow-up evaluation in 2023. Staff shared the evaluations with the owners and met with them twice in attempts to identify solutions before placarding the building as hazardous in December 2023.

The $727,000 in repairs include roof strengthening; reconstruction or repairs of all four walls; replacement or repair of front wall panels; and sealing of roof joints to prevent moisture intrusion. Part of the deterioration appears to have started with a roof replacement in the 1950s that allowed structural issues to remain and further develop.