The owner of the building destroyed in the April 17 fire in downtown John Day said he will be selling the property and has no plans to rebuild. Chris Emery, who resides in Portland, said his family acquired the property in the 1980s and he has owned the building since the 1990s. He said in an email he does not have insurance on the building, nor the funds to repair or demolish what remains of the structure.

Real market value for the lot was listed as $137,820, with the land assessed at $33,230 and the building assessed at $104,590, according to the Grant County Assessor’s Office.

The Deline Building, which housed three separate storefronts, was completely gutted by the fire. The structure was built in 1930, according to records from the Grant County Assessor’s Office.

Deputy Fire Marshall Casey Kump, from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, arrived on April 18 to investigate the cause of the fire and said arson had been ruled out. Investigators believe the fire to be accidental, with the most likely cause being electrical in nature, he said.

An official notice placed on the building, dated May 23, warns the public not to enter the building and orders occupants to vacate the property.

According to the notice, the city is requiring the owner of the property to register the building as derelict under the nuisance ordinance of John Day’s municipal code. The code states the owner must register the building as derelict within 10 days of the order.

Emery said he would have liked the city to purchase the property through a grant and turn the lot into a pedestrian park, though he said the city informed him it was not interested. Emery said he does have a potential buyer, though he informed the party that he would seek other offers through a classified ad he plans to run in the next two weeks.

“Any purchaser must purchase it as is and submit their bid by the end of two weeks of the ad running,” Emery wrote in an email to the Eagle. “I’m also evaluating local Realtors for listing it on (multiple listing service databases) and drawing up the final contract.”

Rick Allen, John Day’s interim city manager, said he had no comment on the future use of the property, adding his primary concern is to follow the municipal code, which calls for derelict buildings to either be repaired or demolished.

“We are in a process to deal with a derelict building,” Allen said. “We didn’t enter this looking for park land. That is a whole different discussion. … Those aren’t discussions we are thinking about. I appreciate his gesture, but at the end of the day we’re not prepared to start going down a path like that.”

The new owner of the building would assume responsibility for mitigating the derelict nature of the property by either demolishing or repairing the structure, Allen said. The building appeared a total loss the week after the fire, with a significant portion of the roof structure having collapsed, exposing the area behind the facade to the open air.

Sandie Gilson, a past exalted ruler of the John Day Elks Lodge, helped organize a benefit event to raise funds for the firefighters and business owners adversely affected by the fire. She said a committee has been formed to distribute about $11,000 raised at the event, with a plan in place to distribute the funds after final accounting has been completed.

Gilson said Emery had contacted the committee.

“He is one of the victims,” Gilson said. “We did receive communication from him asking that he not be included (as a beneficiary).”

Of the potential for the site, Gilson said, “I would like to see a beautification system downtown.”

“To me, it’s always nice to see the building back, but if it doesn’t get built back, something like a pocket park that would add beauty to downtown would be great,“ she said.

Shannon Adair, owner of 1188 Brewing Co., said restoration work from minor smoke damage to the business is ongoing, but the aim is to have the work done for a reopening sometime in July.

Adair lost her 1188 Destinations gift shop, which was located a few doors down from her brewpub in the Deline Building, in the fire. Also destroyed in the blaze were DP Home Entertainment and Fire & Ice Cream, a new business that had not yet opened.

Adair said a number of people have asked her if she was thinking about acquiring Emery’s property, but she said she isn’t interested in buying the lot. Rather, she hopes that someone with an exciting idea for a new business will buy the property and add to the downtown core.

“We’re focused on our other projects, so we are not interested in purchasing that location, but we would love to see a pocket park,” she said. “If someone came in and had a great idea for a new building and a new business on Main Street, that would be my first choice. When you’re taking away buildings on Main Street, you’re taking away your core commercial energy for the community.”