Sedalia Council Approves Demolition Bid for 604 West Main

On Monday night, the Sedalia City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the demolition of structures located at 604 West Main.

Eight bids were received, ranging in price from $87,195 to $249,000. Once the bids were opened Feb. 22, it was determined that the lowest bid came from Earthworks Excavation and Associates, LLC, Higginsville.

$2,415 of that price involves asbestos removal (and disposal) from the old buildings at Main and Missouri that once housed a brewery. The buildings are currently barricaded.

The asbestos abatement will be performed by Gehm Environmental, which is the same company that conducted an asbestos inspection prior to the City bidding out the project, it was noted.

Chief Building Official Devin Lake recommended Earthworks Excavation to City Administrator Kelvin Shaw in a letter dated Feb. 25.

The item was the only one up for consideration under Community Development Monday evening.

According to an excerpt from Sedalia: Then and Now (Pettis County Historical Society):

“In 1897, Franz O. Morschel started a brewing company in Sedalia (on the northwest corner) of Main and Missouri. The new brewery cost $50,000 to build, and was very state of the art.

“A 1904 article on the company claims they shipped over 12,000 barrels of beer that year, and 32,000 pint bottles were produced there a day. Period advertisements for the company also pointed out that their beer was “Union Made.”

From Sedalia, Moerschel Brewery sold its “Special and Select” beer until prohibition forced the company out of business in 1919.

“Their building was later used by Archias Seed Company as a warehouse but is currently vacant.”