Mars Fire Rubble Delaying Repairs At Adjacent Sites City Makes Plans For Cleanup, But Asbestos Testing Holds Up Work

FOR THE RECORD: August 19, 1999: Apartment repair: Repair work on the Fairmont Apartments is not being held up by debris from the Mars Hotel & Casino. A story in Wednesday’s Region section indicated otherwise.

Repairs on two downtown buildings are being held up by the ruins of the Mars Hotel & Casino, which was destroyed by a fire a month ago.

An arsonist torched the vacant five-story building on July 16. The fire destroyed the Mars and caused extensive damage to the neighboring Glen Dow Academy of Hair Design and the Fairmont Hotel.

The south wall of the academy abuts what’s left of the north wall of the Mars. Contractors want the rubble removed so they can get a good look at the hair design school’s wall, which was exposed to intense heat during the fire, owner Glen Dow said.

The business sustained $500,000 in damage from the fire.

“We’re getting worried about winter because our roof is demolished,” said Dow’s wife, Betty. “Before they do work on our roof, they want to know what the position of the wall will be.”

The city made plans Tuesday to clean up some of the bricks and twisted metal that was the Mars, but when all the rubble will be carted away is unknown.

Dow urged the city to begin clearing the site as soon as possible, “like tomorrow,” he said. “We’ve displayed 32 days of patience so far.”

The city will remove the heaps of bricks covering the sidewalks, demolish the one-story building at 312 E. Sprague and have a licensed structural engineer make recommendations about how to demolish what remains of the Mars’ north wall without harming the Glen Dow Academy.

“We want to make sure that bringing that wall down won’t destroy Glen Dow’s wall,” said Dave Nakagawara, a Spokane city building official.

However, before work can begin, the city must figure out a way to test for asbestos to the satisfaction of the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority.

Nakagawara said he doesn’t know how long that will take.

“We’ve never done anything like this before,” he said.

Once the city has finished its work, the bulk of the debris still will remain.

The property is legally under the control of the Spokane Mars Limited Partnership, a bankrupt company.

The city is hoping one of the lien holders on the property will take control and that some sort of deal can be struck to get the place cleared.

Next week, Cyril Randell is supposed to visit the site and meet with city staff.

Randell’s company, Seattle-based Cyril Randell & Associates, holds the first lien against the property and is the most obvious party to assume ownership, but the company is under no legal obligation to do so.