Photo by Deb Gau Owner Robert Coleman stands on the second story of a building in Ivanhoe damaged by fire last week. Coleman said he still plans to renovate the building, but fire cleanup and repairs will mean a lot more work.

IVANHOE — The owner of an Ivanhoe building that was heavily damaged by fire last week says he’s still committed to fixing up the structure.

“All I can do is keep moving forward,” building owner Robert Coleman said Wednesday. “There’s gotta be a blessing out of this somehow.”

Coleman, an Arlington, South Dakota, resident, said he had been working to renovate the building since last summer, with the help of volunteers.

In the early morning hours of April 18, a fire gutted the second story and destroyed part of the roof of the former cafe building at the corner of North Norman Street and West Saxon Street in Ivanhoe. Eight area fire departments worked to put out the blaze.

Ivanhoe Fire Chief Shad Lipinski said last week that the fire was being investigated by the State Fire Marshal’s Office, but it was not considered suspicious.

Coleman said he was in the building the night of the fire, asleep in a living area he had put together on the first floor.

“Around 11:30 or so, I started hearing this banging noise,” followed by a crash, Coleman said. He said he later realized it was probably the sound of falling bricks on the upper level of the building.

“I saw smoke in the building and thought, ‘What in the world is going on?'” he said.

Coleman was able to escape without injury, but he said he lost equipment and belongings inside the building.

The firefighters “did a beautiful job” putting out the blaze, Coleman said. “They saved the building.” But the fire and the cleanup afterward were a big setback for Coleman’s renovation plans.

Coleman said his vision for the building was to have for-profit businesses that would help raise money for nonprofit work. Coleman said his charity, My School Rocks, helped provide school supplies and other help for schools and families in need.

Part of Coleman’s plans for the building in Ivanhoe was to convert the first floor into an arcade, deli and laundromat. Coleman said he also wanted to convert part of the top floor of the building into Airbnb apartments, and part into a domestic violence shelter.

In a post on the Ivanhoe Times’ Facebook page, Coleman said he had put more than $40,000 into the project before the fire. He said he only had liability insurance for the building before the fire.

In a letter shared on the Ivanhoe Times’ Facebook page, Coleman told the Ivanhoe EDA he has remained on-site clearing debris from the building since April 18. In the letter, Coleman said about 35% of the building’s roof was lost in the fire.

By Thursday afternoon, fire debris had been cleared out from the upper story of the building. The windows were all gone, and Coleman also pointed out where part of the building’s chimney had fallen, damaging the floor on the second story.

Coleman said he would have to take down the walls on the second story, “down to the floor.” He then planned to rebuild the second-story walls with lumber and build a new roof.

Coleman said there was water and smoke damage to the basement and first stories of the building, as well as some damage to a building next door.

Coleman’s letter to the Ivanhoe EDA said his goal was still to give back to the community.

“This was never just about opening a business,” the letter said. “The plan from day one was to take a for-profit venture and use it to fuel a nonprofit mission.”

While he was still working on cleanup at the building, Coleman said he was also requesting grant funding, and hoped to try and raise funds to continue repairs and renovations.

“The EDA has been very supportive,” he said.

He said community members have also come forward to help with some of the cleanup work on the second floor.

“If anyone wants to come forward and help us, that’s awesome,” Coleman said.