Tim Condon plans to build homes in West where a fertilizer plant explosion 13 years ago killed 15 people including first responders, injured dozens within the "blast zone," leveled buildings and put the small community on the world stage.

West has recovered for the most part, but the dreadful happenings of April 17, 2013, remain an emotional touchstone. Forgetting is nearly impossible when a force registering 2.1 on the Richter scale and audible 100 miles away rocks a community. Emergency teams poured into West in the disaster's immediate aftermath. Mourning turned to questioning. Memorial services and remembrances honored the dead and hurting. Lives changed.

Condon grew up in Iowa, not West, but has lived sporadically in Texas the past 30 years. He's a builder, as was his father, who put up hundreds of homes he sold to blue-collar workers at John Deere, Alcoa and Rock Island Arsenal in Iowa's Quad Cities region on the Mississippi River.

Condon, now living in Crawford but with strong Waco ties, said he dared not attempt to fill the void on Jerry Mashek Drive in West before gauging public sentiment. He approached city leaders and stakeholders about his proposed Spring Street Housing Addition. Meetings with the zoning board and city council produced a planned development district to guide zoning.

"I went to city and school district officials, said to them, 'I'm not from West. What would you like to do with that site?' I was told there is a need for living-wage housing," said Condon, who owned 6 acres there and accepted an offer from others to invest in two nearby tracts. That left available a 4.95-acre tract the fertilizer plant had occupied since 1962. That was the puzzle's last piece, and "we closed on its purchase a few weeks ago," Condon said.

He has the green light to erect five units almost immediately, with a six-year goal of placing 130 cottages and single-family residences on the 17 acres, though that total may have to drop as roads and utilities take space.

His goal, he said, is offering a product affordable to retirees, mobile home residents and young couples struggling with down payments. Prices will range from the $90,000s to $230,000s for two-story, two-bedroom townhomes; $230,000 and up for three-bedroom townhomes; and $260,000 and up for three-bedroom, two-bath single-family homes. Condon said he welcomes options that could add a few thousand dollars to the price.

"West is somewhat of a rural area, and financing with zero down is available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture," Condon said, adding that a home starting at $190,000 with two bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths would require an income in the low $40,000s to upper $60,000s. "That's $1,250 a month, principal and interest. Rentals in West run $1,600 to $1,700."

Condon said he can vouch for the environmental safety of the 17-acre site, including the 4.95 acres the West Fertilizer Company plant had occupied for more than 5 decades while selling chemicals to farmers. Condon said he joined investors in acquiring the land from the Price family that owned and operated the plant.

He said Austin-based Intera, and environmental and water resource consulting firm, studied the site for about eight months and gave it a clean bill of health.

"That was my No. 1 concern when I closed on the land. I didn't want to go down that road," Condon said, noting concerns about any hazardous chemicals still lurking about despite an earlier clean-up. "From an environmental standpoint, I wanted to dot all the I's and cross all the T's."

Generally speaking, Condon said, the West community accepts his plan.

"I would say 80% to 90% are supportive, 10% opposed," Condon said, adding he's not qualified to say why some react negatively. He said he met with family members who lost loved ones in the fire and explosion, and said he has made it clear he welcomes a memorial to first responders.

Read NIOSH Investgation Report

City Secretary Robin Wylie said a handful of people oppose any change, but the blast site's involvement "stirs up some emotions."

Tommy Muska, West's mayor from 2011 to 2023 and a cog in its blast recovery, said he finds no fault in the proposed subdivision. He will keep his fingers crossed that the site itself will appeal to homebuyers.

"That's right next to the railroad tracks, and trains blow their horns. But truth be told, everybody in West is next to the railroad tracks," Muska said. "There was some concern this would be Section 8 housing, but that's not the case. The city back in May adopted the development district, and it appears both sides are doing everything by the book."

Muska said that West erected on city property a memorial to those killed in the blast, and they deservedly have been honored in other ways.

"You can't hold on to that forever," he said.

Current Councilman Brian Muska echoed his uncle, Tommy Muska, saying, "I have no problem with it. In my opinion, growth is a good thing."

But Darryl Barton begs to differ. Barton, who retired as West's police chief in 2022, said placing residences around an existing rental home that Condon owns on Spring Street is acceptable. But "ground zero," where the massive explosion created a crater, "is sacred ground," Barton said. "It was such a tragic event ... It's important that we never forget. I do not believe homes should be built over where people actually died. That would be disrespectful."

Barton said the explosion affected him on several levels. He lost close friends, and a roof collapsed on his father, Joe Barton, leaving him seriously injured. Residents using their cars and pickups as ambulances ferried Joe Barton to a hospital, where medical treatment put him back on his feet.

"He died one year later," Barton said. "It took the better of him."

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