Dilapidated House Owner Given Two More Weeks to Demolish Rowan Street House

Danbury Superior Court gave Eugene Wendel another two weeks until July 23, to demolish his dilapidated apartment building at 30 Rowan St., and Building Official Leo Null is a bit depressed.

Null has been trying to get this building demolished or renovated since 2011. After Wendel reported an engineer said the building was too far gone to renovate, Danbury Superior Court gave the owner until June 15 to tear it down, and that date passed.

"I thought we'd be getting a contempt charge and a fine of $1,000 a day until he takes down the building," Null said Wednesday. He was shaking his head.

Null said the extension from June 15 came because the owner, Wendel, needs written proof the utilities are shut off to the building. He needs proof he hired a licensed demolition company and proof of where the demolition material will be taken for disposal.

"We don't want the state police calling us one day and asking us about any demolition permits we might have out there, because they found a load of debris at the end of a road or in a pasture," Null said.

Null said Wendel has the proof of a demolition company and landfill, but he needs proof still of the utilities being shut off. Wendel could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

"We're hoping it will be down by the 23rd," Null said.

[Editor's note: this article was originally published on July 9. The date was changed for layout purposes on the homepage.]