It’s been several months since the owner of the building at 212 W. North St. first brought forward plans to rebuild the apartments that have been sitting vacant after a massive fire in January.

The residents of the 32-unit apartment building have had to find new homes, but the owners are planning to construct another 30-unit apartment building in its place. The owners have been before Plan Commission with the plans and drawings, and the final plans were ultimately approved Wednesday night after making some slight modifications to the plans.

The owner is choosing to not have an elevator in the building, which became a point of contention. However, the owner is not required to have an elevator in the building.

Alderman Roger Patton, who is not on the Plan Commission, said Wednesday night he would prefer if the building had an elevator, but still wanted the plans to the approved.

“We have the need for construction projects,” Patton said. “We need the jobs as soon as possible.”

There was another reason Patton wanted the apartment project to begin moving forward.

“The smell of it – the whole North Street is affected by it,” Patton said.