Historic Glasgow property in limbo after missing tornado funding deadline

GLASGOW, Mo. (KMIZ)

After missing the deadline to apply for federal disaster relief, small business owner Scott Morris is in limbo on how to get a damaged historic property he purchased in Glasgow fixed.

Morris was just 22 days away from moving into the downtown building at the corner of Market and Second Streets, combining his next-door business -- River Brew Coffee Company -- and a nearby bookstore -- Fitz's SideQuests. But those plans have been on hold since an EF-2 tornado tore through the roof of the building on April 27.

"For a while we had been a walk-up kiosk," Morris said. "And we realized to take the next step in a small community, we had to expand and create more local services. And so it was our intention, after forming a partnership with Fitz's SideQuests, to do a books and brews concept."

All three floors of the historic property sustained significant water damage. Tarps over the roof that have worked to shield the inside from further damage provide little protection when severe weather hits.

"Every time it rains, because the wind damages the tarps, water comes in," Morris said. "So we're scheduled to get another, they're [workers] going to try to re-tarp it a little bit different. They can put a roof surface on there. It's about $80,000, and that would work for about six months."

There's also worry about what damage winter weather could cause.

After late-April storms hit parts of Mid-Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe requested federal funding to support communities with recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced assistance would be available in Chariton, Howard, Monroe, Randolph and Saline counties.

But Morris said the chance to get his hands on those needed funds was missed.

"I'm just a small business owner. I don't have all the answers to everything. I do a lot of research, and I try to do the best I can. But the federal disaster assistance wasn't widely available. The information wasn't something that people were walking along and handing out to business owners and telling them to explore," Morris said.

Like many in a small town of just over 1,000, Morris said he relies on community in difficult times.

"I was really relying on other people to help guide me through that process, which unfortunately didn't work out. I was in a situation where I missed deadlines for submission," Morris said.

The mayor, according to Morris, was also unaware of such deadlines.

Morris said he did not blame the mayor for not knowing about FEMA assistance deadlines.

"There's things that we're not aware on, policies at the state level, the county level, the federal level. And unless you've gone through the training or you've got some prior experience, it makes it very challenging, Morris said. "And our mayor was doing the best he could. And at the end, it just didn't work out in our favor."

The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency acts as a direct liaison between the federal government and local jurisdictions in these cases. According to SEMA's website, mayors and county commissioners are notified of FEMA assistance deadlines primarily through SEMA.

For the past six months, Morris has been left to figure out how much insurance can help.

"Adjusters came out and did kind of a walk-through and looked at stuff," Morris said. "And like any insurance policy, you have depreciation. This situation is a little unique. The building was built in 1860, has had a lot of restoration work done to it, but it's still an old property."

Through that process, Morris realized there were issues that went far beyond the surface damage.

One issue on the top floor is cracking in the wall's foundation, which Morris said resulted from a tornado.

Morris said that without tuckpointing work, the wall probably would have collapsed.

Water has seeped all the way into the basement, inside an old jail cell. The second floor, where many renovations were already made, sustained significant floor damage where water pools and drips to the basement. Upstairs, the openings in the roof cause water to descend down to the bottom level. Morris said fixing such a historic building with rich architecture has been difficult.

"These windows are 3-feet-by-3-feet wide, and they're 9-feet tall," Morris said. "And they don't make them like this anymore. So trying to replace them has been an issue."

The building has served many different capacities since 1860. Among them are a courthouse, a jail, a town hall, a post office and a senior center.

The building was sold to Morris in 2023. He said it had been condemned when the back wall collapsed.

"It was in disrepair, and the city didn't want to lose it, but they couldn't afford it. And so I took on the project," Morris said. "The first thing I did when I purchased this building within two months was rebuilt. The rear foundation that had collapsed, the city couldn't afford to do it."

Being less than a month away from moving into the building, excitement was building to provide a new life for the property and a unique space for the community."

Both the coffee shop and bookstore were looking forward to the expansion. Morris said Fitz's SideQuests has outgrown their current space.

"They have after-school literacy programs and different things that they work with kids on. And having more space means that we can accommodate more kids," Morris said. "And we're really trying to focus on the community and add to what the school systems have."

Those dreams were not damaged with the building.

"We've invested heavily in the building itself, and when the tornado hit, it kind of put everything on hold," Morris said.

Both the River Brew Coffee Company and Fitz's SideQuests continue to operate out of their original locations. Morris said he continues to relay rain damage reports to the insurance company as they process his claims. He is also exploring other ways to move forward with the project.

"One is, depending on how it all works out insurance-wise, we may take the roof off and stabilize the upstairs walls, open up every single one of those windows and turn it into a roof garden where you can still enter through the coffee shop," Morris said.