On January 9, the Newport Planning Commission met to consider removing the “1886 Building” located at 618 SW Bay Boulevard from the city's historic building inventory due to its deteriorated condition. On March 17, 2022, the Newport Building Official issued a notice and order to repair or demolish the structure due to numerous structural deficiencies. The building fell into a state of disrepair as result of years of deferred maintenance under the previous owner who has since passed away. The estate of the previous owner sold the property to Mo’s Enterprises, Inc. in October 2022.
Mo’s had the “1886 Building” assessed for repair and determined that it was not financially feasible to proceed with those repairs which will exceed $2 million based on the evaluation conducted. Dylan McEntee of Mo’s has indicated that they would like to demolish the existing building and construct a new building that would be consistent with the architectural character of the Bayfront. Mayor Sawyer thanked him and said he was sad the building had come to such a state of disrepair and extreme fire hazard to the bayfront.
The director of Lincoln County Historical Society said they agree with the City's assessment of the building, and they would received permission before demoltion from Mo's Enterprises to photograph the building. A motion was made by Councilor Hall to approve Ordinance No. 2209, amending the historic resource inventory in the Newport Comprehensive Plan related to the “1886 Building” on the Bayfront, and declaring an emergency which gave the ordinance an immediate effect upon its passage. This was approved unanimously. Now Mo's Enterprises will be able to quickly move forward with plans for re-construction of the building.
