TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MURRAY KY DOWNTOWN DISASTERS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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1 TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MURRAY KY DOWNTOWN DISASTERS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The year 2014 has not been kind to downtown Murray, Kentucky. It started off very promising with Murray being named the number one place to live in the entire state by real estate blog Movoto. Movoto stated that Murray sounds like something straight out of a storybook, and listed historic downtown as one of its finest attractions. However, less than one month later, a disaster occurred that would set off a chain of events wreaking havoc on the economy and business community of our beautiful town. The numbers below represent the negative economic impact for the downtown only. It does not reflect the residual economic impact in the community as a whole. The businesses and individuals affected live in this community and contribute to this community in many ways. 173 jobs displaced for varied amounts of time 26 businesses affected 8 business unable to reopen in location 9 businesses temporarily displaced due to debris & safety concerns 9 businesses opened after multiple days off 4 businesses who lost their location will not return to downtown Lost daily income: $285,100 Lost inventory $721,432 Lost real property valued at $2,615,150* (*replacement value) The Murray Main Street Program and the Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce have been working together in partnership since the first disaster to fight against the negative perceptions of downtown as a result of these events. The mission is as it has always been: keep downtown strong, keep downtown alive and keep people shopping local. DOWNTOWN DISASTERS #1 Gatlin building collapse: February 22, 2014 Corner of 4th and Main Streets Two buildings; Main Street. #2 Partial roof collapse: March 29, S. 4th St. #3 Court square fire July 23, 2014 West side of square 114 S. 5th St., 116 S. 5th St. and 502 Maple St.

2 Project Briefing - Murray, Kentucky 2014 Downtown Disasters The Murray Commercial Historic District has been affected by disasters three times in six months. Not only have people lost personal possessions, but also, the city has lost some of its historic buildings that help keep the history of Murray and Calloway County alive. The quality of life and the willingness to invest in downtown is slowly slipping away. The Murray Commercial Historic District is home to 137 contributing historic properties and over 1,600 retail and service professionals working in the district. A thriving economic atmosphere in the historic district portrays Murray as a healthy community and gives the quality of life current and potential residents enjoy. The events that have occurred since February 22 threaten to reverse this progression. GATLIN BUILDING COLLAPSE At 10:45 p.m. on Saturday, February 22, a 21,000 squarefoot structure, known as the Gatlin Building, simply gave way and collapsed. The Gatlin Building was a contributing structure within the historic district, built in On that night, the building housed two of Murray s most successful and busiest CPA offices, one law office and one beautifully designed apartment. An additional 4,000 square-foot structure adjacent to the building also experienced damage. The Murray Main Street Program and The Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce along with first responders and city officials were on the scene within minutes of the collapse. By Monday morning, they had coordinated a meeting with downtown business owners to open the channels of communication, to rally the community and inform them downtown Murray was open for business. With the help of the Murray Convention and Visitors Bureau, a Downtown is Open for Business campaign was quickly launched.

3 Murray Main Street facilitated obtaining an engineer s report to preservation experts for review and consultation on what could be done to preserve the building, received emergency funds through the National Trust for Historic Preservation for the building owner to help pay for engineering work, and worked closely with the building owner and the structural engineer. Unfortunately, after several structural engineers evaluated the site, the collapsed building and the adjacent building were deemed unsafe to save. IMMEDIATE NEGATIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT: Naturally, the economics of the district suffered. Not only were two CPA firms displaced at the height of tax season, there were numerous businesses that were negatively affected: 121 jobs displaced in collapse 13 businesses affected 3 businesses unable to reopen in location 6 businesses temporarily displaced due to debris & safety concerns 4 businesses opened after multiple days off Lost daily income: $250,000 Lost inventory $60,000 Lost real property value $1,350,000* (*replacement value) Downtown is Open for Business campaign

4 PARTIAL ROOF COLLAPSE Roof collapse At approximately 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 29, a frantic call was made to the Murray Fire Department reporting a partial roof collapse at 117 S. 4th St., a 3,200 square foot historic building constructed in 1890 by Charles Baker. The Murray Fire Department and Murray Police Department arrived quickly to the scene to block off the court square once again to ensure the safety of the building and the public. The Murray Main Street Program, the Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce and the Murray Convention and Visitors Bureau were called to the square to assist with the public. Using the Robert O. Miller Conference Center as the hub, the City of Murray held a meeting to discuss the event and to determine what was to happen next. The owners of the buildings on either side of 117 S. 4th St. (Yours, Mine & Ours) were told they would not be able to enter the premises until a structural assessment was completed on the stability of the remaining roof and building. Murray Main Street worked with the owners to contact a structural engineer, worked with the City to get the other businesses up and running as quickly as possible, and assisted the business owners on each side of the collapse to assess their rights as property owners. IMMEDIATE NEGATIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT: Just one month after a major collapse, the economics of the district suffered again. Two major roads on the court square were closed to all traffic. The public perception of downtown Murray grew more negative with this second event. People were afraid to come downtown to do business, and to support local retailers and restaurant owners. Marla Thomason, owner of The Cake Lady was affected immediately. The business had multiple orders to be delivered and a wedding to cater. Businesses affected: Jobs displaced in collapse: 4 days of work for 15 people 2 businesses affected

5 COURT SQUARE FIRE In the early morning hours of July 23, a fire broke out in the Wilson s Florist building located at 114 S. 5th St., a 4,000 square foot building constructed in the early 1920s. The Murray Fire Department was alerted at 2:29 a.m. when someone noticed the fire which had already been burning for hours. Extreme heat consumed the building and proceeded to engulf 116 S. 5th St., the twin building constructed at the same time, which housed Profiles Hair Salon and Spiced Boutique. The entire west side of the historic court square was in danger of being lost but through the hard, work and tireless efforts of the Murray Fire Department, the fire was contained hours later. While trying to gain control of the initial fire, a spark spread to the inside of one of the buildings on Maple Street directly behind the 5th Street buildings. This fire ripped through the CPA firm of Thurman Campbell Group located at 502 Maple St., also known as the Tucker building. The Tucker building was a 15,000 square foot historic property constructed in Many hours later, the fire was extinguished leaving three badly burned buildings and an entire block of buildings in need of structural assessment. The Murray Fire Department used more than 1,000,000 gallons of water to gain control and eventually extinguish the fire. Most of the buildings on the immediate square block were damaged by smoke and water. After the shock wore off, it was back to business. Murray Main Street facilitated obtaining a list of business and building owners contact information for the State Fire Marshall s office and arranged a communications meeting for the City of Murray and the public. Murray Main Street worked closely with the owners to help locate new temporary

6 locations for business. Once again, the Downtown is Open for Business campaign was off and running using assistance from all media sources. IMMEDIATE NEGATIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT: For the third time, the Murray Commercial Historic District suffered a large economic loss, this one larger than the previous two. Three retail establishments, three small service-related businesses and one large accounting/tax firm lost all contents in the fire and three historic buildings were reduced to ash. The negative economic impact: 37 jobs displaced in fire 11 businesses affected 5 business unable to reopen downtown 3 businesses displaced due to debris & safety concerns 3 businesses opened after multiple days off Lost daily income (after 10 days) $35,100 Lost inventory: $661,432 Lost property valued at $1,265,150* (*replacement value)