Mighty wait goes on

Work on building has begun, Mighty Quinn owner says

MOSES LAKE — The wait for the Mighty Quinn continues, with both the city and the owners growing restless.

Community development director Gilbert Alvarado said that he had sent the restaurant's owner Brian Rosborough a letter, stating that the abatement process had started.

This means that the business owners and property owners receive notice that the particular building is defined as a nuisance, and that requires the building to be remodeled and repaired or it has to be demolished.

However, Alvarado said he was aware that some work was being done on the building, citing windows installation.

Despite this, the abatement process was still moving forward, Alvarado said, to prompt remodels along.

"I don't want it to be a case where they do a couple of things and wait," he said. "The letter went out and we are moving forward," he said.

Rosborough said that he had tried to keep the city abreast of what was going on. Furthermore, he said the orders for materials had taken a while in coming in, causing a delay in the start of the work.

"I didn't think the windows would take this long," he added.

Work is set to continue on the building, Rosborough said. Once the windows go in, both the inside and the outside of the building will be painted. There is no set date for the restaurant, once one of the city's most popular spots, to open.

The night of Nov. 19, 2001, a fire gutted the insides of the restaurant, which had been at its Broadway Avenue address for three years. Although arson was ruled out and no one was injured, the fire caused $300,000 in damages.

What ensued afterwards was a long wait for all involved, as its outside fell prey to graffiti.

The presence of a boarded up, damaged building in the heart of downtown irked the city, as did the almost three-year wait before something was done. Towards the end of 2004, Rosborough decided to paint the building white, as a primer, which bothered the owners of the land the restaurant sits on.

Finally, in December of 2004, the city mailed the first letter of warning, telling Rosborough that if contact was not made by early January of this year, the city would begin the abatement process.

Rosborough contacted the city and in an interview with the Herald vowed that the place would open again this year.

"We will be back," he said. He still maintains those hopes.

"We have total intentions of it being open," he said last Friday. "Just keeping it alive we have spent over $100,000 making payments."