Tearing down the former “Professional Building”
is the biggest example of county government waste and haste yet. Once again, with
no plan in place for the empty space, Polk County
is determined to tear down a fourth historic
building. I think anyone on the street
can figure out that if the building was rehabbed into apartments, all those
tenants are going to contribute to the tax base and the local economy.
Before the building housed professional services, it was the
Villa St. Vincent Nursing Home. Does
anyone remember going with Garfield Reichert to sing carols every Christmas to
the elderly? Before that it was a
hospital which treated Charles Lindbergh’s father, and before that it was the
original Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Benedict and built of the finest
materials and workmanship. Names like
your grandparents and great grandparents built it, and names like McKinnon,
Rasmussen, Stone, Spence, Hagen, Farley, Mercil & Sylvester and many, many
more donated to the building of the Addition.
Memories aside, I have heard that the 28,000 (estimated)
square foot building has a relatively new roof, and boiler. I’ve seen the leaded glass windows and doors,
ceramic tile, hard Maple floors, and the all original Georgia pine
woodwork not even painted over! I’ve read about an elevator, and it is built of
solid white brick. All in walking
distance from downtown! This huge
building is three times the size of the Wayne Hotel.
What a perfect building to work together with UMC to
create an entire live/work space for one of their growing majors.
OK, Polk County,
so you own the building; does that mean you can do whatever you want with
it? I don’t think so. Where are the
facts and figures that led you to this decision? What is your goal here? If you want another parking lot for the Government Center employees, just come out and say
so. If you want it off your back, hire a realtor! It will be refreshing to read about your
goals in the newspaper or hear about them on the radio. Heck, the County could even have an
interactive web site with agendas and minutes written so a lay person can
understand them. Explaining your goals
and communicating effectively is a much more positive approach than saying NO,
you can’t tour the building to “Artspace,” the non-profit housing developer for
the arts.
How well I remember sitting in
the “hot seat” in the overly formal County
Board room being hammered by a newer
Commissioner for a plan when I had just handed out a plan to preserve the Wayne Hotel
as the “Palace Pavilion.” It was so
brutal, I asked what the County’s plan for the empty space was and another
Commissioner said “First we take it down, and then we will worry about a
plan.” I think that along with
understanding how the tax base is decreased or increased, people do understand that planning comes first and not
after the fact when it is too late.
