Peru Pushing To Tear Down Old Bank Building

It’s obvious the burned out building at Westlcox and old power plant on Water Street need to be demolished, but a third Peru building also faces its end.  The former Amcore Bank building on Fourth Street has been fenced off for safety reasons.

Owned by the FDIC, city building inspector Frank Taylor has been trying to push the government to have it torn down.  The building has a bad roof and a mold problem.  Repairing it would be expensive.

As recently as last week, a demolition contractor hired by the government contacted the city, but has yet to ask for a demolition permit.

Taylor says the government would have it knocked down to ground level but the basement would remain. City officials seem confident that something will be done with the building but working with the feds is a slow process.