City moving forward on plans to clean up Press Bar site 5 months after fire

Jul. 6--ST. CLOUD -- The city is expected to move forward with its plan to clean up the former site of The Press Bar and Parlor in downtown St. Cloud.

St. Cloud City Council members are expected to vote Monday night on a resolution allowing the city to clean up the property -- for a total cost of $117,000 -- with the intention of being reimbursed by the owners or their insurance company.

"The goal will be to have it all cleaned up by the end of summer," said St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis.

Kleis said the city worked with the site's owner, Horseshoe Club LLC, and its insurance provider, Illinois Casualty, to get permission to clean up the property. Without the agreement, Kleis said, the city would have likely had to spend months or years in court to obtain permission to clean up the site.

The Press Bar burned down Feb. 17. Owner Andrew Charles Welsh, 40, is suspected of setting the fire and was charged March 3 with one felony count of first-degree arson using flammable material and one felony count of first-degree arson of a dwelling.

After the fire, investigators spent two days removing debris from the site. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in the investigation, which discovered fire patterns "consistent with an elevated fire with an origin on top of the desk surface" in the building's basement.

The insurance company is still conducting its investigation into the cause of the fire and has not made a final determination as to whether it will cover the damage caused by the fire, according to city documents.

The agreement stipulates if the city is not reimbursed by the owner or its insurance provider, it can place a lien on the property to collect the costs as a special assessment.

"The city would be held harmless," Kleis said.

At the end of May, the city cleaned up the public right-of-way around the site just before the state allowed outdoor dining amid the pandemic, . Those costs are included in the new agreement.

The cleanup project will include the removal of all the debris and using sand fill to restore the property to grade. It will also allow the owner of Cowboy Jack's to inspect and repair the wall its building shared with The Press Bar.

Jenny Berg is the cities and schools reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach her at 320-259-3680 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @bergjenny.

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