Now, years and months later, the condition of the building has increasingly worsened, especially since portions of the roof had collapsed, leading to further structural damage inside and creating what Atchison and others have called a public safety issue.

Local pharmacist Buddy Swift, whose building is adjacent to the YMCA building, has long petitioned to the city to have something done to ensure his building is not damaged and his customers are not injured by what could become a collapsing structure.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Bolton said he was not interested in further negotiations with groups — such as the Selma-Dallas County Historical Preservation Society — saying discussions have gone on long enough.

In the middle of the meeting, Ward 3 councilmember Greg Bjelke, who is also a member of the preservation society, showed council members and Bolton an estimate that said the façade of the building could be stabilized for $44,700, a far cry from the nearly $1 million Bolton and other structural engineers had proposed.

Later in the meeting, though, Bjelke did point out — as did Bolton and his attorney John Calame — the two estimates were not for the same work.

Bolton, along with members of the council, were concerned the estimate Bjelke presented, which had been compiled by the society and local construction company CRL-Lovelady Construction in October, was never presented until Tuesday’s hearing.

That led Williamson to push for the delay on the vote until next week’s council meeting.