It’s been over a year since a fire engulfed White Hall in downtown Grand Junction and the process to demolish the building will soon begin.

It was September of last year when a fire destroyed White Hall leaving its roof collapsed in upon itself. After the city obtained the property, demolition plans were put on hold after learning the roof had asbestos in it.

To help negate some of the costs to the city for the specialized demolition, they applied for a state grant specifically for situations like this. The city was awarded $85,000 towards the project, with the total costs of demolition being over $300,000thousand.

The Downtown Development Authority (D.D.A.) says it hopes to turn the collapsing building into housing property.

“It seems to lay out pretty well for, you know, somewhere between fourteen and sixteen units of housing there. We have a real need for multi-family housing downtown, market rate apartments, so this would be a great kind of toe hold to get that going” said Harry Weiss, Executive Director of the Downtown Development Authority.

The contractor is still waiting for final permits to be approved so that demolition can start at the corner of 6th and White Ave.

The D.D.A. and the city of Grand Junction say they're looking forward to finally getting rid of the eye sore and redeveloping the property.