Agate residents soon will say goodbye to a landmark that has
been in the town since 1917.
The rundown former hotel-turned-residence at 40910 First Ave. is
set to be demolished after abatement of the asbestos found in the
building is completed.
The decision to start the abatement process was made by the
Elbert Board of County Commissioners in 2007 after complaints were
made by Agate residents about the unsafe structure.
The building has been vacated since 2004 following a fire and
since then, vandals, animals and Mother Nature have taken a toll on
the empty building.
Elbert County building director Bill Tanner announced its fate
at the April 8 county commissioners meeting. He said it has taken a
lot of teamwork from many county departments and manhours to
finally get to this point in the project.
“This had been a long, hard process to create positive change,”
he said.
Tanner said, because of the progress the county has made on this
building, other similar buildings in the county will be evaluated
to determine if demolition is the answer.
“People will be held accountable for their property and won’t
let it get in such bad shape,” he said.
The exact demolition date is not set yet, but Tanner said it
should happen in the near future.
