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Owners of the former Hills Co-Op Creamery Association building received permission to tear down the brick and sandstone structure next month.
Kris Gagnon purchased the 68-by-68-foot building five years ago to house salvaged lumber for his Banking Barns business.
He told Hills City Council members July 13 of his plans and requested permits to tear down the two-story building on West Third Street.
“The building is not safe anymore. There’s been too much ice and water damage over the years,” Gagnon said, adding that he’ll salvage some materials from the demolished structure.
Contractor Spencer Schenk with Stone Hill Excavation of Sioux Falls, who attended the meeting with Gagnon, will handle the removal and cleanup of the half-acre site.
He asked about capping sewer and water service to the property with an understanding that one sewer and one water line will still be left open in case the services are needed for a potential new building.
Gagnon said he already removed the large cistern tanks that were used when the creamery building housed a car wash.
The property will be cleared of all Banking Barns stored lumber prior to the demolition, scheduled to take place in August.
Council members asked about asbestos in the 1927 building and Gagnon said all pipes and ventilation exchanges were removed years ago. Just the timber shell and brick veneer remains at the site.
As demolition begins. Gagnon will harvest the timber and save as many of the bricks as possible for reuse.
He also plans to reuse and possibly feature the large limestone business signs on the building’s east side in the new structure.
Banking Barns repurposes barnwood, slab lumber and live edge lumber for custom-built home furnishings.
Gagnon operates the business out of two buildings in Hills, and the creamery building was used for storage, as is another structure in Steen.
Any building of a new storage facility in Hills will wait. “It’s too expensive to build right now,” he said.
Hill City Council members voted unanimously in favor of the demolition permit. Councilor Vickie Busswitz was not in attendance.