Building used for AA meetings in Idaho Falls recently demolished
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IDAHO FALLS – An Idaho Falls building used by multiple organizations over the years was recently demolished.
Serenity Hall at 600 South Boulevard was torn down on Aug. 26 to make room for a future improvement project.
City spokesman Eric Grossarth tells EastIdahoNews.com the decades-old building was in need of significant repairs, and the cost of repairing it would’ve cost much more than it was worth.
“In September 2021, the property was appraised at $84,000,” Grossarth says. “In February, a structural analysis of the building determined it was in need of structural repairs. It would’ve been very expensive — hundreds of thousands of dollars — to repair that building.”
During a city council work session in May, Municipal Services Director Pam Alexander gave an overview of the repairs that were needed. Among them were reinforcement of the roof and attic, insulation, window and foundation repairs. Concerns about abestos in the building were also mentioned.
The city discussed multiple aspects of the property at length and determined the best solution was to tear it down for future development.
“The way that intersection is set up (on Birch and South Boulevard) … you can’t see very well around that corner,” Grossarth explains. “It wasn’t a safe building, as far as structural integrity, so they decided it’s best to remove the building and look at making that intersection better.”
It’s not clear how old the building was, but the city has deeds on the property dating back to 1897. First Christian Church of Idaho Falls sold it to the city in 1963. Serenity Hall had been used as a church in the past. More recently, it was used as a drug addiction treatment center and Alcoholics Anonymous held meetings there.
AA recently moved to the basement of the Senior Citizens Community Center at 535 West 21st Street.
Though the city’s plan is to do some type of improvement project in the near future, Grossarth says the specifics and the timing have not been determined.
“We don’t know what those improvements are yet. The building was torn down a few months ago, and you have to find funding and engineering (prospects),” says Grossarth. “Sometime in the future, the city is looking at improving that intersection and the remaining property, possibly selling it.”