Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Dec. 10, 2024 – Arguments over contracts regarding the Citizens Bank property will be heard next year, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Circuit Judge Richard Lusby scheduled the trial for the week of March 10, 2025. Pre-trial is set for Jan. 31, 2025, although legal counsel must notify the court by close of business Friday, Dec. 13 if they will request or waive trial by jury.

In a lawsuit beginning in January, Andy Smith has accused building owner Bruce Burrow of breaching a 2021 lease agreement and failing to pay rent and taxes for the building. Smith, with Laurel Park LLC., owns the land the building sits on. Burrow, with One Main Square LLC, owns the seven-story building on the corner of Main Street and Washington Avenue.

Both parties had motioned for a partial summary judgment in mid-November. A partial summary judgment requires that undisputable facts be presented to a judge, allowing both parties to settle without going to trial.

Lusby denied the motion, citing five contracts related to the property in play. These contracts are:

  • a 1953 lease
  • an alleged extension of the 1953 lease extending its term to 2028
  • a 2020 real estate contract involving the purchase of the real estate
  • the 2021 lease
  • an alleged 2022 contract for the purchase of the building and adjacent lots

In his order denying the partial summary judgment, Lusby wrote that the court could not estimate an amount of damages without first determining if either party had any liabilities through the 2021 lease.

“The Court cannot make that determination without first determining whether and to what extent the five contracts listed above and the interplay among those contracts govern the relation and liabilities of these parties,” Lusby wrote. “Making these determinations requires the resolution of disputed issues of fact concerning intent and alleged actions which may reflect intent.”

This comes after the Public Safety Council Committee approved a resolution on Nov. 19 to formally condemn the building. The full City Council is set to consider the resolution in its Dec. 17 meeting. Condemning the building would allow for its demolition.

Parts of Main Street have been shut down since Sept. 25, when a citizen noticed a bulge on the side of the building.

Since then, protection walls were built around First Horizon Bank and the parts of Main Street immediately surrounding the building have been fenced off. Some of Main Street has reopened, but alternate traffic patterns remain downtown.

Mayor Harold Copenhaver issued an emergency condemnation notice during a news conference Oct. 18, saying the building would be demolished and all costs be presented to Burrow, Smith and their legal counsels, if the parties had not taken action to remedy the situation.

This is at the recommendation of engineering firms hired by the city, who said demolition was the best course of action on the 70-year-old building.