The final walls of the three downtown Odin buildings that were about to collapse have been brought to the ground before they fell.
Pete Aydt of rural Centralia had the contract to take down the buildings at a cost of around $85,000. Work began on Saturday, June 28th, when some items deemed as historical by the Illinois State Historical Society were removed and given to the society. Walls then started coming down with the final parts of the structure brought to the ground on Saturday morning. Work then began on removing the large pile of bricks and construction debris.
Odin Mayor Greg Smith says while the village board has been working on gaining ownership of the property for some time, it wasn’t until the outside wall of one of the buildings began to collapse that removing the structure became more urgent. A drone flyover than determined the roofs of two of the structures had partially collapsed into the old structures that were once part of a thriving downtown business district.
Smith says while there has been talk of a park, veterans memorial, and other uses for the soon to be vacant property, the Odin Village Board has made no final decisions.
Workers removing historical window toppers before the building demolition.
