Lima man files lawsuit over demolishing planned gay community center

LIMA — The owner of the planned Lima Gay Community Center is suing the city over plans to demolish his building. Bill Dakota filed the lawsuit this week in Allen County Common Pleas Court, seeking an order to stop the demolition of his property and allow him to continue repairing the building at 136 E. High St. so he can someday open it.Dakota also is seeking a financial award from the court. He estimates he would have had a monthly income of more than $30,000 had the center been open. Dakota filed the lawsuit on his own without an attorney, naming William Brown, a building inspector for Allen County and the city of Lima, for what he called a conspiracy against him. He also said police and other members of the city harassed him and chased away repairmen he had at the facility to fix building problems.“It won't be a Taj Mahal, but it will be clean and with a new atmosphere that was never there before,” Dakota said. Lima Law Director Tony Geiger said he hadn't received a copy of the lawsuit, so he was unable to comment. Dakota said the city wants to demolish the building that once was home to the AMVETS Post 1 to make room for a parking lot.City officials have further conspired by not letting Dakota take out building permits to fix up the building, he said.“The Gestapo-like tactics are out of line,” Dakota said. “To let the demolition order stand would be a travesty to the city of Lima.”Dakota has been locked in a battle with the city for months over the city's plans to demolish the building. City officials said there are too many safety hazards to let the building stand, and repairing it would be a lot more than the worth of the building.There's also a question of whether Dakota legally owns the building. Huntington Bank filed for foreclosure against the building's previous owners, AMVETS Post 1, in May 2008. The county joined the case in an attempt to collect on more than $28,000 in back taxes. Dakota did not file a deed on the property until March 2010. Allen County Treasurer Jim Link said because the deed was filed on a property in active foreclosure, Dakota's deed is void.Should the property proceed to demolition, whoever owns the building would be responsible for the cost of demolition. Brown estimated the demolition cost would be about $50,000.