Demolition of historic Kirk Apartments to start Wednesday morning

(ABC 6 News) – Initial demolition of the historic Kirk Apartment building in Mason City, Iowa began this week after it was destroyed in a fire last month.

Mason City officials pulled its emergency abatement contractor from the site Monday afternoon, following authorization by the building owner’s insurance company to mobilize a specialized demolition contractor. 

The specialized contractor arrived on site on Tuesday and expects to begin demolition of the building Wednesday morning. 

The initial demolition of the building is expected to be completed by the latter part of next week, with all work completed in approximately 3-4 weeks total. 

As demolition progresses, the City anticipates phased reopening of adjacent streets as soon as it is safe to do so for each block. 

The site will be completely cleaned up, leveled, and seeded when the contractor demobilizes and further disruptions to business traffic should be avoided.