City Declares Hilliard Theater a Nuisance Property, Plans for Demolition [PHOTOS]

The City of Lakewood is moving ahead with plans to demolish the long neglected Hilliard Theater.

Many have strong feelings regarding demolishing or saving the historic theater. In fact, the admin of The Historic Hilliard Square Theater Facebook page made the proposed demolition of the Hilliard Theater a 2015 Lakewood mayoral election issue.

The 89 year-old Hilliard Theater had first been deemed a nuisance in 2013. At that time, City of Lakewood ordered the owner, Robert Dobush to make repairs or demolish the building. While Dobush has claimed that he has made some progress with virtually no resources and very little money, the city says that it's not enough and furthermore, Dobush did not pull any permits for the required structural repairs according to Cleveland.com.

According to a Patch article, Dobush had no interest in appealing the nuisance declaration in 2013. However, the building owner apparently changed his mind and did in fact, appeal the nuisance declaration. The Board of Building Standards rejected his appeal, upholding the Department of Building and Housing's original nuisance claim.

Dobush described himself as a "distressed property owner" and requested help from the city for financing repair of the biggest problem with the building -- a hole in the roof so big “you could drive a Volkswagen through it without touching much of anything.”

Dobush said the nuisance declaration was unfair and that the property had not been abandoned, "I'm very limited in what I can do, but I am doing what I can."

However, the city told Board of Building Standards a different story, saying that the building has deteriorated to a point where it is no longer safe to be in and there were concerns that the building could collapse.

Safety measures such as the removal of the marquee and the placement of a fence around the front of the theater to protect pedestrians have been taken. The city has secured a $200,000 grant to put toward asbestos removal and in March, city council approved spending up to $1 million for demolition according to Cleveland.com.

"Now we have to hire contractors and get proposals and get it done," says Law Director Kevin Butler. "We anticipate all that will happen this year."

Visit Cleveland.com for more on the Hilliard Theater demolition.