Demolition begins

Jana Mathia, Gazette Editor | Jun 18, 20200

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AJ Mathia, left, and Leonard Mathia of LM Services, Garfield, begin work removing brick from the top of the Fonk's building Tuesday afternoon. Phase one of demolition will take the building down to the bottom 15 feet and then reassess in the hopes of saving the mural and front facade of the building.

COLFAX – Demolish of the Fonk's building began today after a permit was granted this morning. Chain-link fence barriers were erected around the building and into Main Street in anticipation of the work.

According to owner Joel Warwick, the plan is to take down the building as far as the bottom 15 feet which would leave the mural and front first-floor facade in place. At that point an engineer would reassess the structure to determine if the rest would have to come down or not.

"It'd be nice to make that useful," Warwick said of the bottom portion of the building.

In case the mural is damaged or must be removed, Warwick said they have pictures of it and could re-do the mural if it is not salvageable.

The hope is to get the building down as quickly as possible. The company doing the work stated the first phase, which would take it down to the bottom 15 feet, is slated for one month.

Warwick said they are keeping their options for re-opening and the community has shown its support and desire for a return of Fonk's.