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The $740,700 settlement will be paid to Paul and Rita Durhman, who own the building at 200 Cameron Ave., former home of Advanced Fiber Products Inc.
“They are very pleased with the outcome,” said Gerard O’Flaherty, their attorney.
Paul Durhman said he tried to warn DOT officials that driving piles for the span would damage the building, which is 5 feet from the bridge, but they wouldn’t listen.
Braun Intertec, engineering consultants the Durhmans hired in 2001 to study the building and soil beneath it to assess the potential effects, said before bridge work began that the building would be susceptible to damage.
The bridge opened in November 2004 and now carries traffic west over the river to La Crescent, Minn. The Durhmans filed a claim on the damage in 2003.
Initially, the DOT said governmental immunity made it exempt from any claims, and offered to pay the Durhmans $216,200 for taking a small piece of the company’s parking lot and separating the remaining lot from the plant.
The Durhmans’ deadline for filing to contest that amount was in 2003, before the bridge was completed, so they filed an open-ended claim, O’Flaherty said. It wasn’t until later they realized the extent of the damage, he said.
The Durhmans sought about $1.1 million, and their insurance company an additional $1.2 million it had paid for damages due to bridge construction.
In the settlement reached out of court, the Durhmans released the DOT from any further claims. They have sold Advance Fiber Products but still own the now-empty building.
The city’s Inspection Department had ordered the building be demolished or renovated due to the instability of the wall next to the bridge. The estimated cost of demolition is $299,500, which the Durhmans will have to pay. No date has been set for tearing down the building.
O’Flaherty said a major part of the expense is the wall closest to the bridge must be taken down by hand to avoid damaging the bridge.
oan Kent can be reached at (608) 791-8221 or jkent@lacrossetribune.com.
