JOHN DAY — The owner of the fire-gutted Deline Building in downtown John Day said he will announce a buyer soon, after putting the building up for sale last month.

City officials and nearby businesses have called on the owner of the building on Main Street to demolish the structure quickly or sell the property immediately because it poses a public safety risk. The new owner of the building would be responsible for payment of the demolition work.

Portland resident Chris Emery, who owns the building, was initially given a grace period to remediate the derelict building, but city officials and neighboring business owners said it was high time to take care of the problem because of concern the facade or awning might come crashing down on passersby.

The John Day City Council, at its meeting on June 27, discussed the need for Emery to remediate the problem. Officials discussed taking legal action in order to fix the issue, but stressed it was a last resort.

“We’re tired of giving him time,” said John Day councilman Ron Phillips. “He’s had enough time. We’ve run out of patience. We were a little lenient on the time, but we’re done with being lenient.”

Mayor Heather Rookstool said she emailed Emery last week informing him he had to take care of the issue. Emery, who had planned to keep the property on the market for two weeks to seek buyers, informed the mayor that he would expedite the sale, stop bidding on June 30 and announce a contract by July 7.

“I believe the safety piece of it needs to happen,” she said. “It’s tourist season. Tourist season is important. We’re spending $200,000 to revitalize downtown. We need to get it cleaned up. It’s a tremendous safety concern for the city.”

Emery said he has been in contact with the mayor.

“I’m doing all I can to (expedite) the process, and the sale should be completed in early July,” he said.

Among the prospective buyers is Brian Hubbard, owner of the Grubsteak restaurant and the Ugly Truth bar, which are in the row of buildings affected by the April 17 commercial fire.

Hubbard said he had made an offer on May 9, which Emery had initially accepted. Hubbard said Emery gave him right of first refusal on the sale.

“If a bidder comes in higher than me, then I have first right to outbid him or refuse to offer,” he said.

Hubbard said Emery confirmed to him on Wednesday, June 28, that he would not accept any bids after Friday and would be able to inform him by Saturday, July 1, if his offer was accepted.

Emery 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, said arson had been ruled out. Investigators believe the fire to be accidental, with the most likely cause being electrical in nature, he said.

In addition to city council members, surrounding business owners last week expressed hope that Emery would sell the property soon so the building could be demolished.

Adjacent to the burned building is Country Preferred Realtors, which, according to owner Wendy Cates, has a shared roofing system with the building destroyed by the fire. Cates, whose business suffered smoke damage from the fire, said her insurance company is requiring her to demolish the eastern wall of her building in order for her to move back in because the wall could collapse. Cates says she can’t do that until the burned building is demolished.

“That’s held us up,” Cates said. “We’re not allowed in the building until it’s fixed. The roof could collapse. That building has to be demolished.”