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A masonry crew was on site this week at the fire-damaged Bookstop Coffee Shop in downtown Maryville, but fans of the once-popular gathering spot at 220 N. Main shouldn't get their hopes up that the combination cafe/bookstore/antique gallery will reopen anytime soon.
Owner Mike Phillips said he has hired Holtman Masonry to winterize the building's north wall in anticipation of severe weather. However, he said no decision has been made as to the fate of the building, which sustained severe water, heat and structural damage during and after a large nearby structure was gutted by fire on Aug. 3.
Moving forward with the restoration, demolition or possible sale of the century-old storefront, Phillips said, depends on the outcome of a still-pending insurance settlement.
Phillips said he is having the two-story brick wall "parged" — a process similar to applying stucco — at his own expense, and that any further repairs will have to wait.
"We felt like we had to do something to protect the wall against winter weather," he said.
Phillips said that uncertainty with regard to the settlement, along with apparent interest on the part of developers in rebuilding the entire east side of the 200 block of North Main, is making it difficult to decide what to do with the property.
"We don't know how much to put into the building," he said. "There seems to be a movement by a group looking to acquire whole block to raze it and rebuild. If that happens, any money put into (the Bookstop) would be lost."
So Phillips is splitting the difference by trying to keep his building viable while waiting to see what opportunities develop.
"I'm being about as proactive as I can be with the building, and I'm as frustrated as everybody else with the lack of progress," said Phillips, who described his decision to parge the exterior wall as "rolling the dice at about $50,000."
He said he has some reason to believe the repairs will eventually be covered by insurance, and noted that the job would have to be done anyway if the building is to be saved.
The fate of the eastern-most end of the Bookstop, however, which once housed the kitchen, is even more uncertain than the rest of structure.
"The cost is very high for restoring the kitchen," Phillips said. "I've been advised by counsel not to do anything with that until all of the issues are resolved."
A few days after the August fire, which destroyed two structures immediately to the north of the Bookstop building, a wrecking ball knocked crumbling masonry in the wrong direction and caused part of the shop's roof to collapse.
The mishap filled the kitchen with rubble along with a rear shopping area where water from fire hoses had earlier destroyed more than 1,000 hardbound and paperback books.
A masonry crew was on site this week at the fire-damaged Bookstop Coffee Shop in downtown Maryville, but fans of the once-popular gathering spot at 220 N. Main shouldn't get their hopes up that the combination cafe/bookstore/antique gallery will reopen anytime soon.
Owner Mike Phillips said he has hired Holtman Masonry to winterize the building's north wall in anticipation of severe weather. However, he said no decision has been made as to the fate of the building, which sustained severe water, heat and structural damage during and after a large nearby structure was gutted by fire on Aug. 3.
Moving forward with the restoration, demolition or possible sale of the century-old storefront, Phillips said, depends on the outcome of a still-pending insurance settlement.
Phillips said he is having the two-story brick wall "parged" — a process similar to applying stucco — at his own expense, and that any further repairs will have to wait.
"We felt like we had to do something to protect the wall against winter weather," he said.
Phillips said that uncertainty with regard to the settlement, along with apparent interest on the part of developers in rebuilding the entire east side of the 200 block of North Main, is making it difficult to decide what to do with the property.
"We don't know how much to put into the building," he said. "There seems to be a movement by a group looking to acquire whole block to raze it and rebuild. If that happens, any money put into (the Bookstop) would be lost."
So Phillips is splitting the difference by trying to keep his building viable while waiting to see what opportunities develop.
"I'm being about as proactive as I can be with the building, and I'm as frustrated as everybody else with the lack of progress," said Phillips, who described his decision to parge the exterior wall as "rolling the dice at about $50,000."
He said he has some reason to believe the repairs will eventually be covered by insurance, and noted that the job would have to be done anyway if the building is to be saved.
The fate of the eastern-most end of the Bookstop, however, which once housed the kitchen, is even more uncertain than the rest of structure.
"The cost is very high for restoring the kitchen," Phillips said. "I've been advised by counsel not to do anything with that until all of the issues are resolved."
A few days after the August fire, which destroyed two structures immediately to the north of the Bookstop building, a wrecking ball knocked crumbling masonry in the wrong direction and caused part of the shop's roof to collapse.
The mishap filled the kitchen with rubble along with a rear shopping area where water from fire hoses had earlier destroyed more than 1,000 hardbound and paperback books.
