In February of 2012 Mayor Mark Senter introduced “Operation Bright Spot,” a program he created to “turn up the heat on some of the dilapidated buildings and houses in the city.”
One of the locations on his original list was the former Clark Station at 400 East Jefferson. Since it was put on notification the awnings have been removed, the underground tanks were taken out and the building windows were boarded up.
The deeded owner of the property is Jai Bhagwaan of Park Ridge, IL. He is in the process of selling it on land contract to Michelle and Michael Iqbal who actually own the house immediately to the south.
In March of this year City Council conducted an affirmation order to take action on the East Jefferson Street property as being an unsafe structure. Mrs. Iqbal appeared and said he husband took care of the paperwork and they had plans to open a convenience store at the location. The matter was tabled until March 31st at which time they estimated the building would be ready for business on August 11th of this year. The Council required the Iqbals to appear at their August meeting with an update. At that point Michael had just gotten out of the hospital after having a stroke and was unable to do any work on the building. They asked for and were granted an extension until October 27th.
Monday night the Iqbals appeared before the Board of Public Works and Safety as was requested following their appearance at the August 11, 2014 city meeting. Mr. Iqbal said his health is improving but he has not been able to begin work on the 400 East Jefferson Street building. Michael Iqbal said new windows have been ordered from Plymouth Glass but they are2 to 3 months out from installation.
Councilman Wayne Smith commented, “This is a step in the right direction.”
The council asked for a progress report at their February 9, 2015 meeting.
