By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
In May of 2023 the Marchiondo Building in downtown Raton suffered a collapse of the upstairs back wall leaving a gapping hole all the way down to the basement.
The City of Raton began the process of contacting the owner to see what could be done to stabilize or demolish the building. They learned that the current owner of the building had was unable to do anything with the building and that it was being sold. At a July 9, 2024 Raton City Commission meeting Commissioners passed Resolution 2024-42 declaring the building a dangerous building and giving the new owners, Block#8 60 days to present plans on what they were going to do with the building. Block #8 had an engineer look at the building and it was determined that it might be possible to save the front facade otherwise the building would have to be demolished.
After further study Block #8 came back to the city at the September 10, 2024 city commission meeting asking the commission to extend the 60 day timeline. it was determined that the building would have to be demolished. At that time Block #8 was planning on a three phase program. In the first two steps Block #8 would have to deal with the state environmental department for environmental compliance. The environmental process added months to the timeline. Phase three is the demolition stage which on July 23, 2025 began reducing the building to a pile of rubble piled in the basement of the building. Cleanup will continue the remainder of the week.
