UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. – It took a few weeks, but the rotting fish inside the Seafood City supermarket have been removed.
“They did a great job,” Albert Pfeifer said. “It just took a long time that was the only problem.”
Pfeifer lives in the area and has dealt with the rotting fish smell inside the condemned store for some time.
“As soon as you passed Olive, you could smell it,” he said.
The supermarket was condemned back in March by St. Louis County Health Inspectors, but thousands of pounds of rotting fish were left behind in freezers.
“It smelled like death,” Quneesia Swatson said.
On Thursday the cleaning crew tasked with emptying out all the rotting products from the store finished up the job. John Wagner with University City told FOX 2 the city would be picking up the $120,000 tab through a lien put on the property.
The future of the building is uncertain. In September, the FOX Files reported 6 Fortune LLC and Seafood City are currently in litigation. The property owners allege Seafood City owe $311,421.12 in back rent.
Some area residents would like to see it be turned into something positive.
“Turn it to something for the homeless or turn it to a YMCA,” Swatson said.
The building is condemned and currently has no power. A University City spokesperson also told FOX 2 there’s a hole in the roof that leaks water when it rains.
