Like other small business owners in downtown Buda, Vicktoria Riley of Du Pre Emporium, can’t afford to fix the building to meet code requirements, and receives little help from the landlord. (Photo by Wes Ferguson)
by WES FERGUSON
When the electrical wires started smoking, Vicktoria Riley fixed them.
She replaced the broken windows, too.
But after paying the rent and other expenses at the Du Pre Emporium, her funky little shop in downtown Buda, Riley said she brings home only $100 a month – nowhere near enough to pay for the extensive repairs the building needs.
“It’s not that I want to have a dangerous place,” she said. “I just don’t know what my options are. I can’t afford to fix the problems in my building.”
The 96-year-old brick structure that houses the Du Pre Emporium was originally Buda’s movie theater, according to Riley. Before it reopened as a Halloween costume shop and then as the emporium last December, the building had been closed to the public for two decades.
Along the way, it fell into disrepair.
“It’s an old building, and it hasn’t been looked after,” Riley said. “Everybody just looked the other way. It’s really hard because it does need to be improved, but at the same time we’ve had a really hard summer (with slow sales). Now we’re getting stomped on.”
What Riley described as being stomped on is a new effort by the city of Buda to bring downtown buildings into compliance with the city’s property, fire and building codes.
Though city officials say they plan to work with downtown merchants and property owners who seek assistance for the cost of renovations, Riley was unconvinced. She said she has checked into grants to cover repair costs, but to qualify for the grants she needs the fire marshal to sign off on the safety of her building.
But to get the fire marshall to sign off, she added, she has to first bring the building into compliance with the fire code.
“It’s kind of like the circle of evil,” she said.
Riley’s landlord is Jeanette Chelf, an Austin resident who owns several downtown buildings and is often cited as the most egregious violator of the city’s code ordinances. Chelf isn’t on board with renovations, according to Riley.
“I’ll have to shut down, honestly,” she said. “I really love this town, but they’re going to close me up, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
