Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Thursday, June 05, 2008
Tralmer building roof worked on, rebuilding plan still undecided
Ronald and Don Tralmer are inching closer to a deal with their insurance company and hope to soon be able to rebuild the Tralmer Building, which suffered a partial roof collapse from snowfalls in December.
They are not yet sure,
however, how they plan to repair the structure. Despite delays, some work has already been done. The damaged portion of the roof was taken down last week to reduce the risk of potential hazards.
“The first thing was to get the damaged part down so we can s
atisfy the city as far as the hazard part of the building,” Ronald Tralmer said. “We have taken some walls down, too, to where they are solid and straight.”
Tralmer also said that they have nearly worked out a deal with their insurance company. He said th
at it is not totally clear from that point what the building repairs will consist of.
“We may take the top of the building right off and put on a roof so we just have one floor and a basement,” Tralmer said. “We have had some people interested in purchasi
ng the building as is and rehabbing it. We are looking at that option and just playing it by ear.”
A structural engineer has already been contacted and looked at the Tralmer Building before the damaged portion of the roof was taken down. Tralmer said that
a structural engineer will return to reassess the structure.
The Tralmer Building, which has stood since the 1920s, was condemned on Dec. 26, 2007, after heavy snows caused a portion of the roof to cave in. The Tralmers planned to rebuild the structure sin
ce it was condemned, but ran into delays as an insurance deal could not be reached in February.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.