近距离内射合集

After decades as a Downtown Albuquerque staple, the historic Bliss Building 鈥� home to Lindy鈥檚 Diner 鈥� is being demolished.

Officials announced Tuesday that the city would begin the process of razing the building after property owners Dawn and Steve Vatoseow "failed to follow through on their promise to demolish the collapsing building," according to a news release from Code Enforcement spokesperson Tim Walsh.

The work began Tuesday afternoon with the remediation of asbestos, which was detected in April after the building's exterior wall collapsed into the street. Demolition is projected to take several weeks, though officials expect Central Avenue to reopen by July 15. Fifth Street will remain closed for the duration of the demolition, according to the city.

The city said the Vatoseows had planned to conduct the demolition through Guzman Construction, which obtained a permit May 29 to begin assessing the property. However, once the agreement "fell apart," the release states, the city decided to step in and remove the building to minimize safety risks as well as impacts to Downtown businesses.

"It has become very clear that they are unable or unwilling to perform the demolition in a timely manner, so the city is jumping back in to stop more harm from being inflicted on our downtown and neighboring businesses," said Alan Varela, Planning Department director for the city.

Many people said the city should have stepped in sooner, according to Varela, but officials wanted to give the Vatoseows the opportunity to handle the work on their own.

Officials initially told the family to come to a decision by May 15, then offered a two-week extension after the Vatoseows said they were waiting on an insurance claim determination.

Dawn Vatoseow said the agreement was never dissolved, but rather the city was unwilling to give her the time needed to acquire the funds to begin demolition. She added that she believed the building could have been salvageable based on the initial damages.

"I had gotten the contractor to go in there by the 29th of May to get the permit and he told us the permit was good for 180 days," she said. "It's not that I was unwilling to do anything. It was the fact that the time was not appropriate for the city of Albuquerque."

She said everything hinged on the building's insurer, State Farm, covering claims that she filed when the building collapsed.

The demolition was estimated to cost roughly $400,000, something Dawn Vatoseow said was not feasible to pay without the insurance money.

The Vatoseows filed two insurance claims 鈥� one for the loss of the building and another for the loss of business for Lindy's Diner. Both were denied, Dawn Vatoseow said, leaving her to scramble as she figured out how she was going to finance the demolition.

"We were just dumbfounded that they decided not to cover either claim," she said. "We have tried to do what the city told us we had to do, but it comes to a point 鈥� I don't have $400,000 rolling around to pay for that demo and I did not have the time to try to raise it or to litigate against the insurance company."

Because the city has taken over, a lien has been placed on the property to allow the city to recover demolition costs, potentially through a future sale of the site.

As for the Vatoseow family, they are still processing the loss of Lindy's Diner and trying to figure out what they will do now that their business has shuttered.

"We are very broken up over this," Dawn Vatoseow said. "That was our life for 35-plus years. I don't even have the words to explain how we're feeling and how gut-wrenching this situation has been. I don鈥檛 know what the future holds for us."

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.