One of downtown Lexington’s history properties now has boards in the windows. Declining conditions at 115 West Main Street, the former home to Bellini’s restaurant, prompted emergency action by the city.
Complaints about the state of the building stretch back to 2013. After a series of unanswered violations notices and civil penalties last year issues by code enforcement, the property went into what’s called lis pendens, meaning legal action is taking place and the city needed to hold off on penalties until an agreement is reached.
But in the meantime, code enforcement director David Jarvis said the deterioration was taking a toll on the structure.
"About a week ago, the windows were getting worse," he explained. "We issued a 24 hour board up window notice to the owners. They failed to comply, so we hired a contractor and had the windows boarded up ourselves. The cost was about $2,900. They had to rent a lift."
The building had been owned by NGS Realty, which was administratively dissolved by the state in 2014 after failing to file an annual report. City spokesperson Susan Straub says Lexington has so far assessed $900 in fines from the owners.
Jarvis says while legal action is ongoing on the property the city will continue to monitor the building and make repairs if necessary.
