Wright City officials have decided to postpone razing the former Big Boy’s restaurant due to budgetary constraints at this time. However, board members said it’s still their intent to knock down the structure that fell into disrepair after the eatery, a popular stop for local residents and highway travelers, closed in 2005. At last Thursday’s meeting, aldermen voted 4-0 to delay the demolition project. Alderman Jim Schuchmann said demolition of the building will be postponed indefinitely unless funds become available in this year’s budget or are included in the 2012 budget. The funds will come out of the city’s general revenue fund. “At this time budget-wise I don’t see where we’ve got the money to pursue this,” Schuchmann said. Five bids were submitted for the demolition project, though the lowest bidder was disqualified. City officials said a bid of $13,500 was submitted by Trey Gibson after the July 13 bid deadline. Other bids were received by McKinney Trucking ($22,600), Cannon Excavating ($24,300, with asbestos abatement), J.T. McMullin Enterprises ($28,000) and Karrenbrock Excavating ($32,120). At the previous meeting on July 14, the board delayed awarding a contract so that it could have more time to review the bids. In January, the city finalized the purchase of the property, located at 13200 Veterans Memorial Parkway. The city paid $170,000 for the 2.5-acre parcel. The city envisions constructing a new city hall and police department facility on the property, though a time frame has yet to be determined on how soon that could occur. Big Boy’s was closed by the Missouri Department of Revenue in April 2005 because the owners failed to pay state sales taxes. Since then, the building has sat vacant. Over the past few months, city crews have been working to clean up the property, including clearing out a tree line on the south end of the property. “We’re hoping to get the building to come down, but we don’t want to spend more than what we take in either,” Schuchmann said. “We’re going to continue to do work to make (the property) look better. We’re going to be utilizing our funds to help that.” In June, the city was busy selling most of the restaurant’s contents that were left in the building following its closure. The city received $2,511.20 for smaller items sold June 4, such as tables, pots, pans and kitchen utensils. Later in the month, the city accepted sealed bids for larger items, mostly kitchen appliances, and received an additional $2,076. Whenever the city decides to raze the former restaurant building, a second structure on the property will remain. City officials, however, have yet to decide whether to use or rent the building.