Located in a small shopping center on Tyler and Tyrone roads, Classic Cleaners was given 10 days to vacate after the city staff said it found very serious code violations and structural issues in the building, which also houses a handful of other businesses.
Note: This story was last updated at 2:40 p.m.
City officials have deemed a building housing five businesses in central Oak Ridge to be deteriorated and hazardous, and a municipal board has given a longtime dry cleaner located in the small shopping center on Tyrone Road 10 days to vacate.
Meanwhile, a few other businesses also located there—a thrift store, wig shop, and Mexican grocery—have been given 60 days to come up with a plan of action outlining what can be done to stabilize the building.
The order from the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals does not affect the Magic Wok, but it does apply to the restaurant’s food preparation and overflow dining areas.
The partially occupied 50,000-square-feet building is at 123 and 135 E. Tyrone Road, just north of Oak Ridge Turnpike near Jackson Square. It includes Classic Cleaners, Mia’s Gift Shop and Accessories, the New 2 U Thrift Store, and Tienda Nony International Marketplace. The Magic Wok diner is detached from the building and is not affected by the order, which was unanimously approved last Thursday.
The detached Magic Wok diner is not affected, but its food preparation and overflow seating areas are.
The Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals could consider a demolition order at its April meeting, depending upon what actions the owner takes to repair the building conditions, which are now deemed substandard. The property is owned by Ma Shiu-Yen Wang and Ta-Shun Etal, according to state records.
In a Feb. 19 memo to the board, the city staff said a Jan. 14 walk-through by the Oak Ridge Fire Department and Codes Enforcement confirmed that “there continues to be several very serious code violations and structural issues that have become even more dangerous since our previous building survey on March 15, 2013.”
Among the conditions cited by the staff:
- The structure’s disrepair creates life-safety issues and environmentally hazardous conditions.
- The building lacks adequate exits for fires or panic situations.
- The required fire sprinkler system is out of service due to a catastrophic failure.
- The roof and interior building systems throughout have remained insufficiently maintained for several years.
- The structure is decayed to the point that portions of the building may fall and injure people on or off the property.
Earlier this week, Oak Ridge Community Development Director Kathryn Baldwin said structural members of the building’s roof have deteriorated and show signs of failure; there are roof leaks over the entire building; interior surfaces are unsanitary and there is excessive water damage and mold; the plumbing system is not operational; heating units, ductwork, and electrical systems are damaged; and the fire sprinkler system is inoperable and has fallen on the floor.
Water drips from this hole in the roof at Classic Cleaners on Wednesday, a dry, sunny day. Gravel was visible on the floor beneath the hole.
Baldwin said there is a fairly large hole in the roof of Classic Cleaners, and gravel from the roof is starting to fall inside the business, posing a life-safety issue.
“We felt like it was an emergency situation,” Baldwin said.
Four-by-fours are holding up the roof in unoccupied parts of the building, she said.
A recycler that was in the building has already moved out, Baldwin said.
The staff recommended the entire building be declared unfit for human occupation or use, and municipal employees said the dry cleaner ought to be vacated in 10 days and the other businesses within 60.
The staff said 40 percent of the overall structure was deemed unsafe for human occupation or use in November 1997, and a city walk-through the following month resulted in a space-by-space account of violations that were reported to the owners by letter in February 1998.
“To date, there appears to have been no substantial building or fire safety improvements in accordance with adopted building or fire code requirements over the past 17 years,” according to the Feb. 19 memo from city employees Denny Boss, Josh Waldo, and Matt Widner.
Classic Cleaners owner Jean Young says she has fashioned a hammock made of plastic to funnel rainwater from this hole in the roof to a sink at the back of her shop.
Baldwin said people might not be happy about the board’s decision last week, but board members had few options.
“Due to the extreme safety concerns, the board felt they had no choice,” Baldwin said.
In interviews Wednesday, several of the business owners at the shopping center said they didn’t know what they would do next.
“They’ve put me out on the bread line,” said Jean Young, owner of Classic Cleaners, which occupies the part of the building that once housed a 24-hour laundry and was completed in 1944, when Oak Ridge was engaged in a top-secret national effort to build the world’s first atomic weapons.
Young said the building, a portion of which also once housed The Oak Ridger newspaper, is decrepit, and she alleged the owners wouldn’t upgrade it. She said she has fashioned a hammock made of plastic and set it up under the hole in the roof to catch rainwater and funnel it into a sink in the back of her shop.
Oak Ridge Today observed water dripping from the hole in the roof on Wednesday—a dry, sunny day—and gravel on the floor. The hole is visible in aerial photos, and wood in the ceiling near the hole appears to be bowed downward.
Tienda Nony International Marketplace is also in the building.
Young said the roof does more than leak—at times, it rains inside her business. Still, she said she is not concerned about it collapsing.
“We just don’t go back in that area,” Young said. “The building is not going to fall down around my ears.”
Young has owned Classic Cleaners for 37 years, and she said she needs more time to remove all the cleaning equipment—including a washer, compressor, and boiler—as well as racks and stacks of clothes left by customers.
“I can’t do it in 10 days,” Young said. “It’s virtually impossible.”
Mia Chon of Mia’s Gift Shop said she may have to move out after 18 years in business, but she is hopeful that her landlords can reserve a space for her in the building. She said the family has been spending money on the building and working hard, and she wants the city to work with them.
Mia’s Gift Shop and New 2 U Thrift Store are also in the building.
A Magic Wok representative who identified herself as a restaurant owner declined to give her name or comment on Thursday.
“I don’t want to be in the news,” the woman said.
See the city staff’s photos of the building’s interior here: Tyrone Road Building Photos. Most of the photos were taken inside the unoccupied part of the building, but some were taken inside the dry cleaner.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Kay Williamson says
The same thing has happened at grove center where the roof and the ceiling fell in and I don’t see them closing any of those buildings, and I can name a few more on the west end with the same situation. And then of course there are the APPLE WOOD APARTMENTS AND JACKSON SQUARE APARTMENTS,, THE list of all the new building where these tenants could move, out weigh leaving them open…
Joshua Hamilton says
I have an idea. Lets build a brand new decent apartment complex that starts out at $350 a month. Build a couple of them. Once everyone moves out of applewood, he’ll have no choice but to shut down! 😀
Carol Donath says
I thought that happened at Jackson Sq where they had to close a few stores.
Nancy England says
It’s appalling that buildings like this exist in Oak Ridge. Check out the photos that accompany this article. Thank heavens for the Building and Housing Codes board. It looks like this should have been acted upon years ago. I’m glad the Magic Wok isn’t part of that structure.
Joshua Hamilton says
it is and isnt. The owners of the building are related to betty, plus betty’s food prep area and overflow seating are in that building. Her part isn’t that bad, but I haven’t been in any other part of the building in years, well, since the indoor climbing wall went out of business.
johnhuotari says
Joshua,
I’m curious: Where was the indoor climbing wall, and do you remember when it went out of business?
Thank you.
Joshua Hamilton says
Lets see john… that was forever ago lol. late 90s i do believe, like 96-98? It wasn’t open long, I think the name was Appalachian mountain sports.It doubled as a bike repair shop and sporting goods shop, and was right next door to bettys, where the Mexican grocery is now. Ellis Lavine was the man who ran it, later opened up a skateboard repair shop on Pennsylvania ave, as well as running a lawn care business. Haven’t seen Ellis since he left for north Carolina a few years back. I still have my membership card somewhere.
johnhuotari says
Thank you. I guess that was before my time here then (I moved here in December 2000).
Jason Allison says
Another one for you John was this is the group of buildings where the Oak Ridge was in a few years ago. I used to pick up extra papers when I was shorted on my paper route
Philip W Nipper says
And here is another for you both. Owenby’s Wee Market was the name of the little store where the Mexican grocery store is now and the place between there and the Magic Wok was the location of our first Kentucky Fried Chicken in Oak Ridge. It later became a locally owned restaurant called the Levee. And of course the Magic Wok is one of Oak Ridge’s oldest eateries. It was originally called Morgan’s Diner. I have been in Oak Ridge since 1961 and it was still Morgan’s Diner then. Atomic City Billiards was located next to the Oak Ridger’s location.
Ray Evans says
As I recall, this building was built a bit after the other buildings in the Jackson Square area but not by much. The building sits on two lots. One was originally purchased in 1957 from the Federal Government by the Wender family of Lafollette. They operated Wenders Department Store there for many years. The other end was originally purchased for the Federal Government in 1965 by “Atomic City Enterprises” owned by Oak Ridge Police Chief C T Vettel. Ridge Glass Company owned that part of the building at one time. In 1972 the Oak Ridger (Tom & Julia Hill and Frances Horton) purchased the entire building. The Wang family purchased the building from Tom Hill in 1995.
johnhuotari says
All, thanks for the history of the building. I wasn’t aware of many of these other previous shops. And now I know why the building is labeled as the Wender Building on city documents.
Jason Allison says
How about trying to help businesses who are trying to get established get their beer permit. Been waiting the better part of four months for the city to get off their collective backsides for the meeting. Dates keep getting pushed back further and further.
Jason Allison says
One more thing. Its humorous to see the complementing the building and housing codes for the job they do. Oak ridge codes enforcement has blinders it regularly uses.
Angi Agle says
Great… the only dry cleaner in town that actually cleans in their own facility is now going to be closed. Please, someone find them a space!
Philip W Nipper says
Angi, I believe that Comet Cleaners in the Food Lion shopping center does all their cleaning on site. At least that is what they advertise. I have used them in the past and they do a fine job.
MyraJo says
Oak Ridge Slum Lords need to clean up or sell out. If you have property you could not live or work in yourself then you have a problem to fix. If you invest in something why let it deteriorate? If you can’t afford to fix it then by gosh sell it to someone who will or tear it down and sell the land for redevelopment.