SPRINGFIELD, Ill (WICS) — A dangerous building is coming down months after it suffered heavy fire damage.

Demolition has begun at the cherry apartments on state street in Jacksonville.

This once-apartment building had its place in Jacksonville history…but now, city officials have deemed it too unsafe to stay.

Litigation has slowed the process for this demolition to get underway…and the property remains with that out-of-state owner.

“We made contact the day that the fire occurred and we did find out that the owner did not have insurance for the building. And after that conversation, we were unable to get in contact with the owner for several months to where the mayor and city council decided to move forward with the demolition to remove the hazard for the community,” Brian Nyberg, the community development director with the City of Jacksonville, told NewsChannel 20.

Nyberg said the city might go through the litigation process to acquire the property, then sell it.

But demolition won’t be so simple. We spoke to the company in charge of the demolition process, Jaren Industries.

“You’ve got a building that is quite tall hanging over or sitting immediately adjacent to a much shorter building without any type of support so Making sure that that portion of the building falls inside on itself rather than onto the adjacent building is very tricky,” Joseph Hughs, VP of operations, explained.

These vacant apartments sit only five feet away from its neighbor, the same building housing the Morgan County Coroner and county probation department.

Meaning crews must be delicate with the demolition.

“It’s a very tricky process as far as protecting that building, which they’ve done everything they can. They spent several days covering that building with foam and plywood in case anything were to fall on that side. So they’re doing everything they can to protect it, so hopefully it all goes well,” Nyberg said.

The morgan county coroner and probation department have been unable to work out of the neighboring building since the fire.

Officials told me they’re grateful demolition has begun…as the displacement has made their jobs harder without easy access to their offices and their equipment.

Officials estimate demolition will take a few weeks to wrap up.