Despite severe winter weather and a delay in the delivery of construction supplies, the Quezada family has a great start on required repairs at old City Hall.
Old City Hall was rocked by an explosion July 21st, 2015. The explosion was caused by the manufacturing of homemade flash powder. Eduardo Quezada, who was making the flash powder for entertainment purposes, died from his injuries.
Nearly a year and a half later, the Quezada family is making progress on the repairs. In February of this year, Pendleton City Attorney Nancy Kerns sent building owner Jose Quezada a letter informing him about the city’s nuisance ordinance, which gave him 120 days from the date of the fire to start repairs, and a year to finish them. Quezada, with his sons Miguel and Marco, are diligently working to finish the roof which was destroyed in the explosion.
“We’ve spent almost $60,000 out of pocket” says Miguel Quezada. “We didn’t take any of their money.”
“It’s just been the three of us” according to Marco Quezada. “We’ve been out here in the cold trying to get this done.”
The Quezadas are expected to seek an extension from the Pendleton Development Commission. The Quezadas concur that the recent severe winter weather was the main cause of delays, although they say that a delay in the delivery of construction supplies also contributed. According to Jose, “they were supposed to take a week to deliver, but they took 15 days.”
Rosemary Garcia, owner of Sister’s Cafe and daughter of Jose Quezada verified the information given, and further elaborated that after her brother was killed the repairs were not a top priority due to the natural grieving process. She said it has been a family effort to raise the monies needed for repairs. All parties are hopeful that the Pendleton Development Commission will grant the extension.