Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Demolition grant takes down Wagars restaurant, bar

By JAN TUCKER

[email protected]

Ontonagon - The former Wagars restaurant and bar is going down. Crews and big equipment from the Pesta Construction Company started the demolition of the building Monday.

The restaurant and bar were originally two buildings but a door was created between them and remodeled to look like one structure.

The village now owns the property and obtained a Michigan Land Bank Authority Rural Demolition Grant to tear it down. The $50,000 grant will not pay for the entire project. Pestka Construction gave the low bid of $76,500 on the project. Village Manager Joe Erickson said that K&W Waste Management gave the village a municipal disposal price much lower than anticipated, "and we expect the job to come under the bid price."

Erickson said he expects the demolition to be complete by the end of the week and then village crews will restore the site and seed it.