This story was updated on June 7 with comment from the City

On December 3, 2022, a fire in the vacant building at 2312 Lyndale Ave. S. led to the City tearing down the building. Six months later, the rubble remains. The landlord of the building, C. David George, has numerous vacant and condemned buildings in the area.

According to the City’s Community Planning and Economic Development department, George’s attorney has been working with the George's insurance company since shortly after the fire to get the wreckage cleaned up. According to the City, George has been working with Veit & Co. to clear the wreckage. Veit & Co. started the wrecking permit process on April 14, but there has been no recent progress.

City spokesperson Sarah McKenzie said that the City has issued George orders and citations for the delay in cleanup, but this has not resulted in furthering the cleanup effort.

“This circumstance and delay was not expected from a City perspective, because the property owner had a contractor employed,” McKenzie said in an email.

The City’s next step will be to solicit bids in order to hire a contractor to do the cleanup. The process will take several weeks to complete and get the work moving forward.