Fire-struck Fort Rapids building probably a 'total loss' and headed toward demolition
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- After being struck by fire, the villas of the abandoned Fort Rapids water park appear to be a "total loss" and may be headed toward demolition.
Preliminary results assessing the resort's damaged building found it was unlikely to be salvageable, according to Columbus real estate agent Dan Sheeran, who helped facilitate the sale of Fort Rapids in October. Firefighters contained the damage to that building and the rest of the property remains intact.
Following the fire, Maxwell Drever said the plan was still for his firm, Drever Capital Management, to follow through with its purchase of the property, claiming it would take people "not afraid to think out of the box." He and Sheeran both confirmed the plan is still to find a way to move forward with his acquisition and redevelopment of the property, despite the damage it sustained.
Drever argued that Fort Rapids' current owner, Jeff Oh Kern, should be made to pay for the building to be demolished. If not, he said it would be on the city to foot the bill. While he has agreed to buy the property and still plans to, he said there needs to be something worth buying. In the meantime, he thinks it's crucial to staff the site with security to prevent further issues.
The California real estate investor had plans to convert Fort Rapids into affordable workforce housing, and his firm had already spent $500,000 on the upkeep of the property. He said the damage done to the building means there will be 60 fewer units built than originally intended.
Late on Oct. 27, Columbus fire crews responded to reports of burning in the area. They found a significant fire from the rooftop of a two-story hotel building that's part of the site. Firefighters remained there until afternoon of the next day.
Columbus declared Fort Rapids a public nuisance in 2021 after it was ordered to close in 2016 over a series of code violations. As it sat empty, in 2018, millions of gallons of water poured out of the Holiday Inn tower’s windows from a burst pipe on an upper floor.
In June, Kern was ordered to pay $199,000 in contempt fines to the city and $1,000 in daily fines. When a warrant was issued for his arrest in August, his daily fines were increased to $2,000 and his bond was set at $2.5 million. He still owes contempt fines, but those can be paid out of the proceeds from the Fort Rapids sale, City Attorney Zach Klein’s office said in October.
Kern has been subject to similar legal troubles elsewhere. He averted a Michigan, jury trial in a 2023 criminal case related to his failure to clean up the demolition site of a Holiday Inn he owned in Midland.