The owner of the Pioneer building has been granted, more time to make the building safe for entry so fire inspectors can try to determine what caused the fire that destroyed the building.

The City of St. Joseph on Dec. 1 issued an emergency demolition of the building, which was gutted by fire last month.

Fifth St. and Francis St. have been closed since the fire. There is some heavy equipment on the site for the eventual demolition of the building.  The order included a deadline of Dec. 15.

In a news release Friday, city officials said they had granted a delay in the deadline provided in the emergency order.

“At the request of the property owner of the Pioneer Building, the contractor has been granted by the city an additional period of time to continue work on the demolition of the property located at 505-514 Francis Street,” according to the news release. “The contractor will have until Friday, December 23, to render the structure safe for entry.”

“As the Pioneer Building is privately owned, the process of the demolition is between the property owner and the contractor. The contractor has been removing the south wall as a priority to reduce and/or eliminate any further damage to existing adjacent properties. When the south wall has been removed, larger equipment, which is already on site, will be used to more expediently bring down the remaining walls.”

Officials say that if the owners fail to meet the new deadline, they will besubject to administrative fines for failure to comply.

“The city is anxious to proceed with the fire investigation as to the cause of the fire, as well as reopen the streets to pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and allow businesses to reopen,” according to the news release. “As such, the city will continue to work with the property owner to expediently demolish the structure and clear the area in the best interest and safety of the public and downtown businesses.”

Once the fire investigation has concluded, the property owner will resume complete demolition of the structure.