ELKTON — After a fire ripped through the Minihane’s building on the corner of North and Main Streets in downtown Elkton in May, both the town and local businesses have struggled to adjust to the new fenced-off landscape that officials say may not be changing anytime soon.
Since the blaze left the former hotel and Irish pub charred, with dozens of broken windows and exterior imperfections, the Town of Elkton installed fencing around the building due to the possibility of falling debris.
The fencing occupies the entire rear parking lot of the building, roughly six street parking spots and the entire sidewalk at the intersection of North and W Main Street.
Fences outfront of the Minihanes building on North Street in Downtown Elkton block street parking spots.
The Elkton Alliance, which is in charge of strengthening Elkton through events and economic development, said that the fencing has denied them nearly 50 vendor spots for this year’s Fall Fest.
“Fall Fest is one of our biggest events of the year and not having 50 vendor positions is a big deal,” said Executive Director of the Elkton Alliance Alicia Calhoun.
Calhoun noted that Fall Fest is just one of nearly dozens of events that have been impacted by the fencing — stating that the Alliance was close to re-routing the town’s Memorial Day Parade due to both the fencing and the unappealing look of the charred building.
Fences block the sidewalk and parking spaces outfront of the Minihanes building on West Main Street in Downtown Elkton.
“We have been unable to utilize the sidewalk and street space around the building and it has caused a lot of issues with holding all of our events as we typically would,” Calhoun said.
Local businesses like Spork Cafe — one of Main Street’s most popular businesses — have also been struggling with the lost space, stating that the lack of parking availability has impacted their sales.
“There is already a lack of parking and now dozens more spots are closed and that has been hurting our business big time,” said Isabel Hernandez, one of the owners of Spork Cafe.
Town officials are beginning to question how long the fencing will continue to occupy downtown Elkton, since the Maryland State Fire Marshal has yet to disclose a full report on the fire.
Once the report is complete, it will be up to the owners of the property to take the next steps.
“Once we get the report, I can assure you that we are going to contact the owner and work with them to make the building safe until they decide what to do with it,” said Elkton Mayor Robert Alt. “But until the fire marshals report is done, the town can’t really work with the building owners to have them take action.”
The Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal said that they have completed their investigation of the fire, but finalizing a report can take “several months” and that they are unable to give a timeline for when the report will be complete.
