Repair work continues on Ritchey Mansion

Today's Joplin Globe features an update on the ongoing repair work at the historic Ritchey Mansion in Newtonia, which was damaged during the May 10 tornado:

For the historic mansion, a “ballpark” estimate puts the total cost of the damage to the building caused by the May 10 tornado at between $86,000 and $100,000, said Kay Hively, a member of the Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association, and an advocate for preserving the house and grounds. The association will not have a final number until after the contractor has finished his work, she said.

Much of the damage to the building will be covered by the association’s insurance, although the organization will have to absorb some of the costs of cleaning up the surrounding property and of running an underground power line to the utility pole at the edge of the property, Hively said. Many of the trees that once studded the front and back lawns are gone.

“The place looks bare now,” she said of the grounds. “It looks like a big house on the prairie.”