At the July 5th City Council meeting, the council members unanimously approved a demolition permit application for the former Smouse House/ Captain’s Table. The demolition will not be finalized until it is supported by the National Register of Historic Places, which will have to be handled by the Elliott Realty Group, the property’s current owners.

An issue has been raised regarding 0f whether or not Washington taxpayer money will be used for the demolition of the building. The Mayor of Washington, Jaron Rosien, talked to KCII about whether taxpayers will be involved in the demolition of the building.

“There is no tax money that is in Smouse House currently; that has been some miscommunication or some confusion, so while it has been talked about, no taxpayer money has been invested into the Smouse House.”

Mayor Rosien also talked about how this decision was not easy either for the Historical Preservation Society or the City Council, but ultimately, it came down to financial feasibility.

“The councilors approved with regret. The way a demolition permit works for a historic property is that the Historic Preservation committee has to recommend approval or denial. They also recommended approving the demolition with regret. The main hurdle is economic viability to rehabilitate, and it has been clearly demonstrated that fixing the Captain’s Table is not an economically viable action.”