HPI Products property set to be demolished

By Chris Fortune

A Downtown building used for chemical mixing and storage soon will meet the wrecking ball.

The St. Joseph City Council has approved a bill to demolish the former HPI Products facility at 408 S. Eighth St. after reaching an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency.

“That helped the city move forward with the understanding that once the property was acquired by the city and under control by the city, there would be no further action by the EPA,” Interim City Manager Clint Thompson said.

The EPA required strict certifications on where the waste from the building could be sent, which ruled out the St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill. The waste will be hauled to Waste Management in Shawnee, Kansas, instead.

The City will fund the demolition and transport of waste, which will cost $98,182, with American Rescue Plan Act funds.

EPA regulations restricted St. Joseph from building another structure on the site and stated the city must cap the property, which involves pouring a layer of concrete where the facility once stood.

Another bill approved Tuesday will turn the property into a parking lot for the nearby St. Joseph Fire Department headquarters.

Construction of the parking lot will be handled by local concrete contractor JD Bishop Construction for $171,000.

“You’ll see that building most likely come down before the end of the year, and then the construction itself will be determined based on the weather at the time,” Thompson said.