ALPINE — Efforts are finally underway to clean up the wreckage on Holland Avenue left by a devastating May 2024 fire. The site, 109 to 115 West Holland Avenue, has remained walled off to the public since the tragedy.
The City of Alpine and the building’s current owner, Bill Ivey, have been in negotiations since November 2024 regarding the sale of the site, which used to house several local businesses and is located in the heart of downtown Alpine’s commercial district.
Ivey told The Big Bend Sentinel this week that, while the city did present an offer, he ultimately chose in mid-March to go with a “better offer” he received to sell the property to someone else. Ivey declined to provide the identity of the new owner and said the sale is still being finalized, but he is confident they will usher the property well into the future.
“I’m very confident in the buyer. They have roots in the Alpine area,” Ivey said. “I don’t know what they’ll do, but I think they’ll do something good there.”
Ivey said he and the new owners are collaborating to clean up the property, which has received dangerous building violations from the city. The city also required Ivey to have an asbestos inspection done, which he said led to cleanup delays. The cause of the fire was ruled “undetermined” by the Alpine Police Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
This week, crews could be seen disassembling the temporary wall and accompanying “Alpine will rise from the ashes” mural from the site. “It’s going to be kind of a slow process in the beginning, to sort through things, and then [we’ll] come in with the heavy equipment to really abate it, to clean it,” Ivey said.
City Manager Megan Antrim said Ivey has “done everything the city’s asked, and he’s currently working with building services to get the rubble removed.”
Antrim declined to specify what the city offered Ivey for the building. She said no formal plans were ever reached regarding the city’s plans for the site. “The city had not developed a concrete plan,” Antrim said. “It’s just a nice location. It’s commercial, and ideally the city would have wanted to develop it.”
