Over five years after it was damaged by the 2020 derecho, a downtown building in Newton is under demolition. The process of tearing down the two-story building at 209 West Second Street North began Monday morning. The building’s owner and the city have been in a years-long court battle over demolition of the building, which Mayor Evelyn George says is not a typical demolition.

“The demolition, because it’s a downtown-connected building, could impact three to five of the adjacent buildings. So it’s a complex and expensive demolition project, with additional risk and potential liability.”

Mayor George says that’s one of the reasons why the city did not step in and take on the demolition. She also adds the building owner, Jeremy Chedester of Chedester Properties LLC of Des Moines, agreed in a 2023 court document, to tear down the two-story building at his sole expense by February 2nd of last year. The City of Newton did have another court date scheduled for today, where petitions with residents’ signatures were to be presented, asking the judge to order Chedester Properties to demolish the building.