TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A last-ditch effort to save a 135-year-old Queen Anne Victorian that had been used as offices for the Kansas Department of Labor has failed. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a Facebook community called the Topeka History Geeks had planned an open house to generate interest in the building on the west edge of downtown Topeka. But Barbara Hersh, of the Department of Labor, said Thursday that the building is "unsafe." She says there's a contract in place for it to be demolished at a cost of about $42,000. The house was built in 1880 and had been known by some as "The Department of Labor White House." Hersh says it has been unoccupied since March 2011 because of significant deficiencies. Since 2006, attempts to sell the property have failed.
