The pros and the cons of public space, when the inside goes outside.

We're a few months into it, with time to see how the urban outdoor experiments have worked. Most of the evidence is supportive of further adaptive reuse. O'Sullivan has the good and the bad.

What Happens to Public Space When Everything Moves Outside, by Feargus O'Sullivan (Bloomberg CityLab)

As restaurants and bars dramatically expand their outdoor seating, questions are emerging about who gets to occupy the streets.

In this pandemic recovery period, city streets are starting to look a little different. To create room for social distancing, restaurant, bar and café tables are spilling out into the street. In some cases, this means more businesses adopt a Parisian sidewalk café model. In other cities, this design skips right past the sidewalks, which need all the room they can get for socially distanced pedestrians. Instead, tables occupy parking spots and vehicle lanes, and in some cases parks or public squares. This new way of organizing street space has already been rolled out in many cities, including Vilnius, Lithuania; central Paris; the old city of Barcelona and Boston’s North End. It’s in the process of being introduced in a host of other cities across the world this month as some urban centers tentatively emerge from lockdown ...

20,000 square feet of living space in an old Masonic Temple in Huntington, Indiana.

Huntington, Indiana (Lime City) lies 25 miles southwest of Ft. Wayne and a few clicks west of I-69. Huntington dates to 1834, and the Wabash & Erie Canal once ran through it. Perhaps appropriately, the satellite view of Huntington (population 17,000) reveals a downtown with as many nicely paved surface parking lots as buildings.

As a child Robert Alan Deal lived for a few years in Huntington, the county seat of Huntington County. He's better known as Mick Mars, guitarist for Mötley Crüe. Both the noted Civil-War era Copperhead (read: rebel sympathizer) Lambdin P. Milligan and future vice-presidential potato head J. Danforth Quayle practiced law in Huntington; perhaps appropriately, Huntington University is the "top-rated Christian college in Indiana."

Here's an interesting story from Atlas Obscura about an inspired (insane?) act of adaptive reuse.

The Monumental Undertaking of Moving Into an Old Masonic Temple, by Jessica Leigh Hester

The 20,000-square-foot house requires endless renovations, but the ceiling is high enough to fly a drone inside.

 ... The temple in Huntington, Indiana, wasn’t the house the couple had in mind when they decided to move east from San Diego, where they’d grown up and started their family. Atom was into aquaponic gardening, a pursuit that can take up a lot of land, and land costs a lot less in the Midwest. But a few years ago, while visiting family, they happened across the sprawling, stately building and noticed that it was on the market ...

 ... After closing on the building in the fall of 2016, the family had to figure out how to turn a 20,000-square-foot space, built in 1926, into a home for a family of five ...

"To transform the former tack factory into 50 senior housing units, the city of Madison is partnering with Denton Floyd Real Estate."

Maybe I'm missing something, but ever since HWC got the contract to oversee the contract at the future Reisz-Stag, has any construction actually taken place at the re-election campaign's centerpiece?

Following the money: HWC Engineering made city streets even safer for speeding cars. Now the company will oversee the Reisz Mahal. Can campaign donations be far behind?

The primary's right around the corner, with lots of banners and photo-ops. This just won't do.

Good luck, Madison.

Community program helps former tack factory become senior housing, by Rachael Krause (WAVE-3)

MADISON, IN (WAVE) – A redevelopment project will keep an historic building standing in one small Indiana town. The project is the first step toward revitalizing the entire community, made possible because of a stellar community designation from the state.

Built in 1896, the former ‘tack factory’ in Madison, Indiana used to be where locals worked making tacks, nails and hangers. The factory sat empty since 2007 when it shut down.

“It’s kind of an eyesore for us,” said Nicole Schell, city planner for Madison.

The city was designated a stellar community by the state of Indiana in 2017. The program provides access to grants for projects to revitalize unused spaces and renew interest in rural communities. To transform the former tack factory into 50 senior housing units, the city of Madison is partnering with Denton Floyd Real Estate ...

Berlin looks to Communist-era "slab buildings" to alleviate a housing shortage.

If I seem to be a tad fascinated by the topic of post-WWII communist times in eastern/central Europe, it's because I've never been able to shake the impressions left by traveling there in the late 1980s.

It's a kinky urbanist streak in my character, but here are a handful of links to past posts tangentially related to housing in these places.

History & photography: "What East Germany Was Really Like."

Khrushchyovka! The rise and fall of typical Soviet-era housing in Russia.

ON THE AVENUES: Two books about truth and housing.

Estonia Spring Break 2016: Day Five (2 of 2), featuring a bus ride to the 'burbs and two Old Town pubs.

"Life Behind the Berlin Wall" and other documentaries about East Germany, all of them ideal for history obsessives like me.

This latest amazing revelation includes a useful reminder, in that when these structures first were raised, they were regarded as luxurious examples of modern housing in the context of previous domiciles.

This doesn't excuse Soviet colonial rule or domestic repression. It just helps explain a few things.

A Second Life For Berlin’s Plattenblau, by Feargus O'Sullivan (CityLab)

The city is looking to the ubiquitous building type from its Communist past to help solve a housing crunch.

Yesterday, Berlin’s Senate announced a project to add more units on top of already existing buildings in the city’s east, with a possible capacity of up to 50,000 new homes. The plan to add floors isn’t novel in itself, of course, even in Berlin. What’s striking is the specific type of building chosen for the experiment: East Berlin’s Plattenbau. These mass produced, partly prefabricated modernist apartment complexes (the name translates as “slab buildings” in reference to the concrete panels that form their walls) were put up in huge numbers during the Communist era. When a German thinks of a Communist-era building, a Plattenbau likely springs to mind.

After reunification, however, Plattenbau were heavily derided as dreary, meretricious, and frequently remodeled, demolished, or reduced in size. Now, it seems these buildings are set for another reversal, rising high again as their role in providing decent housing is reassessed ...

THE BEER BEAT: From Sunday sales in Indiana to garlic tastings, an overview of informative news items.

Before glancing at a handful of interesting beer-related diversions, New Albanians should note that on Friday, September 13 there will be a day-long renewal of last year's Harvest Craft Beer Hop, as annotated and organized by The Exchange pub + kitchen in New Albany.

More than a dozen establishments in downtown New Albany will be listed on a paper passport, with the idea being to navigate the Harvest Homecoming maelstrom downtown and drink a beer at six of them.

Bartenders will validate the passport "stamps," and then walkers will return their passports to The Exchange to be entered into a drawing for goodies donated by the participating restaurants and bars.

There'll be more on this event as soon as the final version is released, probably later today. Just remember to have your ride arranged beforehand.

---

When it comes to Sunday sales laws in Indiana, it quickly becomes apparent that the various special interests are almost perfectly balanced in terms of political power. It's a WWI-trench-warfare-ready version of absolute stalemate, and so the status quo largely has remained, as discussed only recently hereabouts.

THE BEER BEAT: Schansberg explains Sunday and Indiana's lingering sales restrictions: "Support for restrictions is driven by greenbacks more than blue laws."

We still refer to restrictive laws like these as "blue," but as Eric points out, the prime motivator usually is green.

When it has come to carving out little toeholds of competitive turf amid the gaps in the fortifications of the bigger players, as when Sunday sales for craft brewers were legalized, the key figure in the Senate has been Ron Alting.

During my time on the Brewers of Indiana Guild's board, the underlying assumption was that we'd wait to see where Alting came down on an idea, and gauge the subsequent effort accordingly. There were other concerned parties in the House, among them our own Ed Clere, but in the Senate, Alting was (and surely remains) the gatekeeper.

No judging, just a fact. Seeing the senator's name in the context of overall reform is intriguing; however, as the authors concede, it's all about the details.

Want to buy booze at the store on Sunday? New developments offer some hope. Maybe, by Tony Cook and Robert King (IndyStar)

If you've been frustrated by Indiana's ban on Sunday alcohol sales, there may be hope on the horizon.

Maybe.

A key lawmaker who has blocked such efforts in the past says he is drafting a bill that would allow grocery stores and other retailers to sell alcohol for carryout on Sundays.

“I think it’s time for Sunday sales," said Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, chairman of the Senate Public Policy Committee.

But the devil will be in the details. Big questions remain on what conditions the bill might place on Sunday sales. Alting said it is too early to get into the specifics of the legislation.

Kevin Gibson surveys news about Gravely Brewing, Cumberland Brews and a Philosophy on Tap series of lectures (with beer and food) at Louisville's Migo restaurant on Dundee Road, but the item that caught my attention is closer to home.

Beer meets philosophy at Migo, by Kevin Gibson (LEO)

A pungent tasting at Donum Dei

Breweries host tastings all the time, usually from a guest brewery or from a series of new releases, but Donum Dei Brewery in New Albany will host a tasting of a different type on Oct. 19 — this one involves tasting garlic.

Yes, garlic.

Sirocco Ridge Farm from Henryville will bring in six different types of garlic for attendees to taste and learn about. It’s part of what the farm calls its Great Garlic Gathering (G3) Event. Hey, garlic is garlic, so the gathering has to be pretty great, right?

Donum Dei owner Richard Otey said the tasting is part of a twice-yearly tasting the brewery hosts. The program has been going on for the last three years, and won’t stop now.

The garlic-tasting event is free and is 6-8 p.m.; all of the different garlics presented, including a special wild garlic, will be available for purchase. Bring your own breath mints. And, hey, I’m just hoping the next one isn’t exotic cucumbers.

Having recently returned from fact-finding mission to Belgium and the Netherlands, and while in Haarlem enjoying enjoyed more than one session at the Jopenkerk ...

... it's an excellent time to remind readers that there's no better use for a shuttered church than to trasnform it into a house of beer worship.

Former churches find new life as breweries; Closed churches find second life as breweries, by Dake Kang (Associated Press)

YOUNGSTOWN – Ira Gerhart finally found a place last year to fulfill his yearslong dream of opening a brewery: a 1923 Presbyterian church. It was cheap, charming and just blocks from downtown Youngstown.

But soon after Gerhart announced his plans, residents and a minister at a Baptist church just a block away complained about alcohol being served in the former house of worship.

“I get it, you know, just the idea of putting a bar in God’s house,” Gerhart said. “If we didn’t choose to do this, most likely, it’d fall down or get torn down. I told them we’re not going to be a rowdy college bar.”

With stained glass, brick walls and large sanctuaries ideal for holding vats and lots of drinkers, churches renovated into breweries attract beer lovers but can grate on the spiritual sensibilities of clergy and worshippers.

At least 10 new breweries have opened in old churches across the country since 2011, and at least four more are slated to open in the next year. The trend started after the 2007 recession as churches merged or closed because of dwindling membership. Sex abuse settlements by the Roman Catholic Church starting in the mid-2000s were not a factor because those payments were largely covered by insurers, according to Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the archdiocese of Boston ...

Finally, something to give us hope with our libations.

Tapping Rural America: Craft Breweries Pour New Life Into Small Towns, by Kirk Siegler (NPR)

Chris Hernstrom was brewing in the craft beer mecca of Bend, Ore., when an ad caught his eye: Want to live somewhere gorgeous and make beer for a small community?

"It just seemed like an interesting challenge to come out to basically the exact opposite of Bend, some place where the brewing industry is still in its fledgling stages," Hernstrom says.

That place, Hernstrom's new home, is the cattle ranching hub of Valentine, Neb., population 2,700, tucked into the Niobrara River valley in the Sand Hills.

Hernstrom is head brewer at the Bolo Beer Company. On a recent weeknight, he was pouring pints of Aquifer Ale and filling carryout growlers of Wild West Wheat. With its modern pendant lights and bar made of reclaimed wood, the newly opened taproom looks as if it would be more at home in Seattle or Denver than in rural Nebraska ...

A few views from Hull & High Water's soft opening. Regular business hours begin on Thursday at 4:00 p.m.

Hull & High Water is located at 324 E. Main Street, and if you've been around long enough to recall previous incarnations of this building, be prepared for bedazzlement. Steve Resch always does quality work, but this one is something special. Note the interior "fish tank" art, courtesy of David Thrasher. The long haul begins tonight ...

The future path is obvious, Jeffrey: "New Albany’s Second Baptist wins 'Network to Freedom' designation recognizing the church’s historic role as part of the Underground Railroad."

Yes, my views on the topic of public money for the enhancement of church architecture are (shall we say) nuanced.

There may have been an excellent case to be made for contributions to the prominent Town Clock Church, but once a precedent is established, where does it start -- and more importantly, where does it end?

(Keep reading. There's a twist in this tale.)

ON THE AVENUES: Weeds, porch appliances and our civic Gospel of Appearances.

 ... According to the Gospel of Appearances, blessed are those who help tax-exempt organizations maintain their properties. According to this logic, the city of New Albany received a boost in the quality of life when the two church spires were repaired, and yet, wouldn’t both these churches still be able to function spiritually without steeples?

Wasn’t the combined expense somewhere in the neighborhood of $750,000 of someone else’s money?

Might the money have been invested in other ways, so as to lift humans, and not spires?

Speaking personally, I’ve no problem in both these instances accepting the argument from the utility of historic preservation. Furthermore, I support the notion that the greenest building is the one already standing, and urge building rehabilitation whenever possible.

And yet metaphors matter.

In the case of the Town Clock Church, one sure way that the city's steeple investment can pay future dividends is explained in this update from Indiana Landmarks (below). The Underground Railroad itself is a conceptual relic of history, but it remains vital even 150 years later because of the teachable topics proliferating from it.

It needs to become just such a teachable tool.

Understanding that what I'm about to suggest is unlikely, I'm not deterred at all from broaching it, because the best use I can envision for Bill Allen's dilapidated properties on Main Street facing the Town Clock Church is for them to be rehabbed into a cultural and educational center addressing the many manifestations of the Underground Railroad.

Expensive? You bet, but also a project of merit that might draw investment from a wide expanse of individuals and organizations. It might even be structured to give the slumlord Allen family a tax break, so as to wrest these properties from their cold, clueless hands.

You're free to steal this idea, Jeff Gahan, unless I've already (and inadvertently) stolen it from someone else. Then you can steal it from them.

Be forewarned: It might imply "reaching out" to African-Americans as part of the tourism branding effort you currently fail to possess, and doing so will offend certain Thurmondian portions of the "Let's Pretend We're Democrats" fundraising machine you spend most waking hours steering.

Think you're capable of that? If so, run with it.

Southern Indiana Church Joins Group of Elite Peers (Indiana Landmarks)

New Albany’s Second Baptist wins “Network to Freedom” designation recognizing the church’s historic role as part of the Underground Railroad.

Harriett Tubman’s home, the Levi Coffin House, and now, Second Baptist Church. At a ceremony in early July, the New Albany property won recognition as an official “Network to Freedom” site, honoring the role the church played in the Underground Railroad.

The National Park Service designation recognizes and promotes historic places, museums and interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad. Nationwide, more than 500 sites and programs have earned Network to Freedom status. About 20 other entities in Indiana share the honor, ranging from sites, Eleutherian College in Lancaster, for example, to educational projects like the Indiana Freedom Trails Educational and Research Program.

Second Baptist’s Network to Freedom status capped an initiative led by local historian Pamela Peters, informed by her years of research on the history of Floyd County’s African-American residents. While oral tradition long held that freedom seekers were hidden in the basement of the church, Peters uncovered no specific documentation to verify the claim. However, she was able to document that church members were vocal advocates who created a support system not only for escaping slaves but for New Albany’s African American community as a whole ...

Dying malls? "There’s a huge opportunity in all of that under-performing asphalt."

Sorry, but no tears for Sears.

Column Dying malls offer a chance to build something better — and address how our lives are changing, by Steve Lopez (LA Times)

... malls were enjoyable enough for a few decades, especially when it rained and you needed to get the kids out of the house. But the formulaic chain-store sameness of malls grew tedious, and I ended up longing for the authentic Main Streets that were killed off by malls, big-box discount stores, and, in recent years, digital shopping.

Now a lot of malls are dead or dying.

Not all of them, by any stretch. The Del Amo Mall, for instance, and the Glendale Galleria seem to be thriving, thanks to some combination of location and marketing strategy.

But shuttered windows and “For Lease” signs are now common at many of Southern California’s three dozen or so malls. They dot the land in various stages of fossilization, thanks in part to the fact that many people now prefer to do their shopping without having to put on their pants or leave the house. One recent report said that up to 25% of shopping centers could close in the next five years.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. The market works the way it works ...

SNIP

Malls I can do without, and rather than hold a wake, we should celebrate the opportunity to put so much concrete and asphalt to better use.

What do we love to complain about in Los Angeles?

Everything, pretty much. But atop many a list are a lack of housing, especially affordable housing, and a lack of parks.

So here’s our chance to put all that real estate to better use.

“The indoor mall is an anachronism, and its time has come and gone,” said Rick Caruso, developer of the outdoor Grove and Americana on Brand, upscale destinations that offer more than retail and are often packed with people who don’t even go there to shop.

Not everyone loves the Caruso concept, but he was onto something in predicting the death of malls and knowing what consumers wanted in their place.

City Market at Louisville Gardens? Ideas, please.

Louisville Armory, 1905.

There's a new Facebook page for brainstorming: "This page created by Byron Hoagland as a citizen activist/urban dreamer. Feel free to throw more ideas on the pile!"

City Market at Louisville Gardens

The missing link to downtown Louisville's potential resurgence as a livable/walkable neighborhood...A Central Market. What better location? The Gardens!

In 2014, Melissa Chipman surveyed the building's past and present.

Urban ruin: A tour of the deteriorating historic Louisville Gardens, by Melissa Chipman (Insider Louisville)

 ... Louisville Gardens was built as the Jefferson County Armory in 1905 and designed by Brinton B. Davis, a native of Natchez, Miss. who later settled in Louisville. Most people think of an armory as a place to store munitions, but it was much more than that, explained Morris ...

 ... The 220,000-square-foot building is “built like a European train station” and its basement is a bit of a maze. There is definite evidence of people having fairly recently lived in the basement  ...

 ... The city of Louisville acquired the building during the city-county merger in 2003. It has been completely out of operation since 2009, and the city now uses it for storage. You could furnish a whole office building with the chairs and desks and filing cabinets scattered around the arena.

"Will the Death of Malls Save the Suburbs?"

The article speaks primarily of enclosed malls, though several points are applicable to the potential redevelopment of strips like Colonial Manor on Charlestown Road.

Will the Death of Malls Save the Suburbs? by Clare Trapasso (Realtor)

 ... But now this somewhat beloved and utterly iconic American institution—forever immortalized by teen classics like “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Mallrats,” and “Clueless”—is in danger of becoming an endangered species ... the sea change has already begun. Foot traffic in most of the nation’s largest malls is dropping ...

 ... How is the decline of the mall going to affect American life itself? Some municipalities are finding that these dead shopping meccas present a unique opportunity to reinvent—and reinvigorate—their sleepy suburban landscapes. The centers are being transformed into public parks, medical complexes, even hockey rinks. In some cases they’re even being rethought as walkable “urban developments in the suburbs” which include funky boutiques, innovative restaurants, fitness centers, entertainment, and, yes, housing.

The Baptist Tabernacle (316 E. 4th) has new windows, and renovation work continues.

August 2016.

Circa 2008.

2008 - 2012 (photo published in 2012 N and T).

Restoration begins in 2012.

In an effort to make a long story short, the former Baptist Tabernacle was featured as part of a 2005 effort to interest potential investors in downtown properties (among them Shrader Stables, now The Exchange). My photography is primitive, but the NAC posting has interior views.

(October 27, 2005)

Recapping the Historic District Building Tour and Field Day, Part 4: Baptist Tabernacle.

Two and a half years later, Team England purchased the building at a sheriff's sale.

(January, 2008)

City acquires historic Baptist Tabernacle building on East Fourth.

Subsequently, various proposals were minted toward a goal of adaptive reuse (the relocation of City Hall and a home for the Vintage Fire Museum among them), but then Mother Nature intervened, and in September, 2008, hurricane force winds blew off the roof, destroying the ceiling paintings in the process.

The final three years of England III were devoted to politicking, insurance claims and spit-balling, and the Tabernacle sat unattended. It was sold to Keystone Restoration in 2011 for $1, as explained in the newspaper. Work then began to roof and stabilize the structure and make it fit for resale.

John Waggoner of HMS Global Maritime, who also owns the White House Center and Hornblower Marine (115 E. Market), bought the Baptist Tabernacle building. It currently is being readied to house a division of his company, which will bring around 25 jobs to downtown New Albany.

Tabernacle Baptist Church (Neoclassical; 1879)
316 East 4th Street
New Albany, IN 47150

This congregation was formed by the merger of First Baptist Church and Bank Street Baptist Church. Dedicated on January 4, 1880, the sanctuary here could seat over 1000 people and was said to have the finest frescoes on the walls and ceilings of any in New Albany. The congregation remained here until it purchased the former home of Third Presbyterian Church in 1920 and changed its name back to First Baptist Church. That congregation still remains active today at the corner of East Ninth and Spring streets.

The building housed a number of commercial uses after ceasing to be a church. When the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through New Albany in September 2008, the building - which was vacant at the time - lost its roof. A new roof has been reinstalled by the current owner, and rehabilitation work is ongoing.

Let's hope Warren and the Boredettes have approved these repurposed news racks, lest we endure the sequel to Street Piano Interruptus (2015 Remix).

Photo credit: First linked article below.

From 2015, a fuller explanation of the project from the newspaper, via the Indiana Economic Digest.

Repurposed newspaper racks to transform into Little Free Libraries

The News and Tribune, the Arts Council of Southern Indiana and naming sponsor Schmitt Furniture are launching an initiative to repurpose newspaper distribution boxes into Little Free Library locations that will be placed throughout neighborhoods and downtowns in Clark and Floyd counties.

From earlier in the week, the Arts Council's update at Fb.

Schmitt Furniture News Rack Little Free Library Project

Thank you to Sierra Wiese! To those without the pleasure of knowing her, she is a member of the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, Youth Philanthropy Council and Student Council President of Jeffersonville High School, who delivered 600 books for our Schmitt Furniture News Rack Little Free Library Project!

Whither boice.net and the Reisz Furniture Building?

The Reisz building in 2006.

The Green Mouse's ear turns to the rumorama, and specifically, a recent hint that New Albany's boice.net will purchase and rehabilitate the long-moribund Main Street structure known locally as the Reisz Furniture Building.

The rumor was relayed with a puzzling caveat: Boice would be compelled to quantify the amount of money the company intends to invest in restoring the building for contemporary use, to the tune of $3 - 4 million. But to whom is this as yet unverified commitment being made? Seller or city?

The rumor may or may not be true. However, if factual, the obvious question asks itself: Will boice.net be receiving enticement in the form of credits commensurate with sewer tap-in fees waived for the Indianapolis-based developer of apartments on the former Coyle site?

If not, a follow-up: As a city, why do we persist in subsidizing outside entities, and not empower ourselves?

At least we're not the only ones asking this question (emphasis ours).

Carmel to consider incentives for $60M development, by Chris Sikich (Indy Star)

Anderson Birkla is negotiating for tax incentives to build a mixed-use development costing up to $60 million at the former Party Time Rental site on land the city owns in Carmel.

Mayor Jim Brainard and the Carmel Redevelopment Commission have been searching for a partner to redevelop the 6.5-acre site into homes, offices and retail for years, as a component of the city's emerging downtown. The shuttered warehouse is in a prominent location along the Monon Parkway and Rangeline Road, south of City Hall and City Center.

The mayor and redevelopment officials believe the proposed public investment — valued at roughly $9.85 million — is crucial to completing the deal and adding a blighted property back onto the city's tax rolls.

"We always conduct a financial analysis of our redevelopment projects and feel strongly that this project is in the best long-term financial interest of the community," Brainard said. "Mixed-use projects such as this have consistently shown to generate far more tax revenues for the city than the amounts invested."

Critics of the mayor's redevelopment policies, though, continue to wonder how long the city will subsidize development before the private sector will build at market rate.

"Tear It Down," Sayeth the Councilman, Part 5: The ghost of Orwell enjoys a pint at Haughey's Place.

Perhaps by the end of the week, the city will have finished with the demolition of the old Haughey's Place tavern building, and of course, the world won't come to an end.

However, certain illusions perhaps are best terminated, the sooner the better, and that's why I've posted exhaustively on the topic today. No one else will; might as well be me. Let's begin with a classic of restrained understatement.

There are obviously intertwined matters of transparency, "advise and consent" and planning, and the 922 Culbertson imbroglio has exposed considerable and ongoing deficiencies in these areas. 

First and foremost to my mind is City Hall's seemingly pathological desire for secrecy and control. It is an administration seeking always to conduct business by means of carefully sanitized, upbeat press release -- long after the details have been squared away safely behind the scenes ... and I'm phrasing this mildly.

If readers believe I'm exaggerating, then think of it this way: Can you imagine City Hall as currently constituted conceding error or uncertainty on any topic, in any way?

That's what I thought.

As 3rd district councilman Phipps's comments in today's series illustrate, the council as currently constituted shares much of the blame for the condition of non-transparency. The council's president tends to run its affairs as though he were the mayor's appointed whip. Due diligence on the part of council has been almost entirely absent amid huge expenditures, as with the aquatic center. Individual members veer wildly back and forth between contradictory self-definitions:

"We're here to do something; no, wait, we can't do anything at all. We can't decide, so we'll ward-heel ... unless, of course, we don't."

The inevitable result in terms of practical effect is little more than old-fashioned party machine politics, and it reeks of paranoia and cliquishness. It squelches ideas and outside-the-box thinking as effectively as a one-party dictatorship -- which quite frankly, it is.

As pertinent questions of the sort prefacing participatory democracy continue to go largely unasked, both by a newspaper that exists solely to entertain at a 4th-grade level, and by elected officials meekly willing to toe the party line -- whether actively or passive-aggressively -- substantive dialogue is subsumed by vapid buzz-phrases:

Quality of life
Public safety 
Fundamentally better

These are merely three of the recently minted ways of evading scrutiny and intellectual honesty by what amounts to modern variants of Orwell's newspeak.

Specifically, I find City Hall's "public safety" position v.v. the doomed building at 922 Culbertson to be flagrantly insulting. The city's outmoded one-way arterial streets are more unsafe by the day, and nothing is done to correct or even address the situation aloud. The recent onslaught of heavy truck traffic has exacerbated an already ugly scene, and City Hall's reaction has been to lock lips and fold arms even more tightly.

Why?

Because it must wait for Jeff Speck's political cover to confirm the daily lesson of its own sets of eyes, and that, my friends, is political cowardice.

Consequently, public safety currently means one thing, and one thing only: Just demolish as many buildings as possible, and triumphantly point to this quasi-suburban standard of vigilant cleanliness as City Hall's equivalent of fascism's ability to make the trains run on time:

"We're orderly in the city, folks. We're eliminating the unsightliness. Look at the nice grass where once a slumlord reigned. Come here and invest -- not that we'll be doing anything to make investment fruitful after the rubble is hauled away."

Naturally, these were rampant slumlords untouched by the city's "enforcement" arm over generations of inert passivity ... but let's not urinate in the broth, quite yet.

Yes, of course unsafe buildings need to be addressed, by demolition if necessary.  

No one denies that, but what needs to be addressed concurrent with their escalating demolition is what happens when they're gone. Urban areas need density to function as intended, not suburban standards of cul-de-sac green-space propriety. We have hundreds of weedy holes in the urban fabric, but what we don't have is a plan to sell, give away or rebuild on them.

The fact that every such debate as 922 Culbertson's conjures from scratch a different, ad hoc response should tell the scattershot tale clearly enough. After all, "redevelopment" has a prefix that suggests new beginnings, not merely efficient bulldozing.

Where the hell is the plan? You DO have one, right? You ARE aware of modernity ... please?

And so the newspaper put the worst possible photo of 922 Culbertson on its Fb page, and asked whether the building should be saved. 

Maybe, maybe not, but nothing should be done until Mayor Gahan tells all of us (a) what happens to the vacant spot in terms of redevelopment, (b) what happens to all the other vacant spots, and (c) exactly who has shown interest in the vacant spot such that the building's removal suddenly has become so important that the mayor himself is involved with the decision. In this context, I asked Habitat for Humanity whether they sought the space, and once again, they've answered "no."

Jeff and I tried to ask these questions of Councilman Phipps, and were surprised to learn that he has become the evasive politician he professes to loathe.

Me?

I'd just appreciate a yes or a no to those questions I ask that offer these two simple options. This doesn't mean I personally dislike my councilman, or intend to write mean things on his locker at school. It does mean that I'm quite disappointed that his now-evident personal zeal to demolish 922 has blinded him to the numerous larger issues, but I can only pitch the ball and hope someone hits it.

And yes, the public safety argument at 922 Culbertson is a red herring of epic proportions. If public safety were the overall municipal objective, we wouldn't have one-way arterial streets slicing through these same residential areas, undermining all the purported advantages of rampant demolition.

It's plainly hypocritical, but at the moment, it's all we have.

For now.

"Tear It Down," Sayeth the Councilman, Part 4: "I say do the work for which you're being paid."

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


Jeff wrapped and tied the 922 Culbertson conclusion, and a discussion ensued. I'll let the participants speak for themselves.

And there you have it, folks: In 20 minutes, I just did more due diligence, provided more information, in terms of potential uses and impacts of corner stores and small, neighborhood commercial structures than the entirety of our city government has done in the past year. My councilman says: It's ugly. Tear it down. I say do the work for which you're being paid.

Greg Phipps
Maybe you should run for councilman next year.
2 hrs · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
Such a cop out, Greg. This passive-aggressive stuff is old already.
2 hrs · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
But this is how it goes: any number of citizens ask rightful, highly relevant questions. You get offended that you're tied to such, and jump in on a personal umbrage note claiming all is well and above board. Those questions, though - today and many times before- such as they address actual processes that impact the city and our lives in it, are duly ignored. There is no explanation, no justification offered, no anything in terms of regular communication, desired outcomes, strategy, nothing.. If you're offended by being mentioned as complicit in silence, how are the rest of us supposed to feel?
13 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
Jeff, the city council has no control over what happens to that building, those decisions are made by the administration and or redevelopment. I didn't make the statement in anger, I'm serious if someone else want to step-up and run for council I will gladly step aside.
12 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg, very gently: And you abdicated whatever bully pulpit a councilman might possess by advocating the building's demolition, and to my ears, a tad flippantly. Jeff's question about due diligence is very appropriate. In this and other situations where decisions are being made behind closed doors -- as seems to be this administration's default setting -- if your brief does not include promoting transparency, then what exactly does it contain?
12 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
Pretty much what I was about to say.... and add that specific concerns about maintaining and promoting small, neighborhood commercial structures very much falls under council purview, especially in a district where they readily exist in neighborhoods designed to function with them. Likewise for many other issues that end up ignored as part of any number of closed-door dealings. If you're going to criticize Landmarks about not being proactive... I wasn't joking in the slightest when I mentioned here that my 20 minute output was more than could be attributed to the City, even with so many full time staff and part-time elected reps supposedly engaged.
12 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
I mean, if you're not raising concerns about the mayor touting tearing down a commercial building to implement "secret" plans in your own neighborhood, what would be objectionable enough in terms of process to warrant speaking up? Those corner stores don't represent some comparatively ancient, 19th century way of thinking (though we could learn from that, too) but rather they were viable, contributing parts of higher functioning neighborhoods through the 60s, 70s, 80s. Our neighborhoods are weaker without them and removing that potential completely is difficult to justify, or at least should be.
11 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
Roger: If I were aware of a plan that would be detrimental to the neighborhood, I would speak up, this is not the current case. Jeff: I'm not opposed to corner grocery stores, but I don't see people beating down the door to locate one in New Albany, if they are out there, there are plenty of abandoned building waiting to be developed. The bottom line is that businesses locate based on profitability not the desires of a select group in a neighborhood. I stand on my earlier statement- Tear it down.
11 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg, are you aware of a plan, any plan, for this and/or other rapidly escalating vacant lots? Thanks. Your use of the word "detrimental" prompts my follow-up.
11 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
I have listened to the concerns of those in the immediate vicinity of this building and the majority are in favor of demolition. No one has stepped up with a complete plan to totally renovate the building. The only proposal has been to stabilize the building, then it may set empty for years before a complete renovation occurs if ever. So you criticize me for not listening to people, now when I publicly take a stand, after listening to constituents, then you criticize me "for listening" to people.
10 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
A short time ago, no one was beating down the door to invest anywhere in downtown or midtown New Albany and, should anyone have wanted to, there were plenty of empty buildings available. Personally, I'm pretty glad they're still there and being near fully used.
10 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg, I'm not doing any of that. I'm not talking about the building. I'm talking about the vacant space that will be there when it's gone, and the hundreds of others we have, sitting there, doing nothing -- holes in the fabric. I'm trying to learn if ANYONE in the city has a plan for these, and that's why I'm asking you NOT if plans you heard have been detrimental, but whether there ARE any plans at all for it? City Hall hints at such. Habitat for Humanity denies they're involved (I just asked them on Fb). Why are we knocking down all these buildings if there's no plan to utilize the empty space? Recall that Redevelopment begins with "re".
10 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg: And all of it is conducted in an atmosphere of military-level state secrets. I'm sick of that, and I'm sorry, but you should be, too.
10 hours ago · Like · 1

Greg Phipps
Even if there were not a plan, wouldn't an empty lot be better than a crumbling dilapidated building? Such a lot could be used for in-fill housing.
10 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg: Yes, it could. So what's the plan for in-fill housing?
10 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg, and speaking to Jeff's point -- in the absence of questions and verification, the extent to which it is crumbling and dilapidated isn't really known. And, if it could be stabilized and used later, isn't this the very essence of sustainability?
10 hours ago · Like · 1

Jeff Gillenwater
This "plan" has been announced as a secret. If it truly is a secret, there's no way to judge if what's coming is better than what's currently there or could be done with the current structure. If it's not a secret, than others are responsible for helping to keep residents in the dark. Wouldn't it be better to actually market the current structure in a sincere effort to see what the possibilities actually are before declaring it dead? Why would infill housing be better than rehabbing the current structure?
10 hours ago · Edited · Like

Greg Phipps
Roger: When that lot becomes vacant, I will push for in-fill housing.
10 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
Roger: Stabilization with a plan would be great, but stabilization without a plan or definite time table perpetuates an eye-sore that affects the quality of life in the area.
10 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg: Why won't you answer my question?
10 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
It's not the role of the council to announce plans, that's the role of the players who are involved.
10 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
Jeff: I can't imagine a plan that would be worse that what's there now.
10 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
A) You've created a classic false dichotomy between the building as it sits now and whatever else might be put there. B) So you know what the mayor's plan is and won't tell us or you won't acknowledge if you know what the plan is? It's a simple yes or no that speaks directly to the trust issues I mentioned earlier.
10 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg: Which plans? The plan for the single corner building, or the comprehensive plan for the numerous vacant lots we're creating? Can I accurately say, "Councilman Phipps concedes that he is aware of plans but cannot specify which plans he is aware of, and will not comment further?"
10 hours ago · Edited · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg, if you cannot answer a simple yes or no question clearly, then you quite obviously have become the politician you profess to loathe. I'm sorry for you if that's the case, but I'm sorrier for the rest of us.
10 hours ago · Edited · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Greg ... wait, but if the councilman's job is not to take any part in the decision-making process reserved for mayor and redevelopment, have you not usurped your own job description by canvassing neighbors for their opinion? Might we then judge by the tone of your disdain for this particular building that you've actually played an active role in advocacy which isn't any of the council's business? And what of these recurring arguments about "public safety" coming from an administration that will do absolutely nothing about unsafe traffic on streets in residential neighborhoods? Isn't this a "quality of life" issue, too? Is it EVER the job of council to ask City Hall to explain the hypocrisy -- or is that what Roger does?
10 hours ago · Edited · Like · 1

Jeff Gillenwater
And to think this whole conversation started by questioning my assertion that the process surrounding this building had been corrupted.
10 hours ago · Unlike · 1

Roger A. Baylor
Jeff: When the reply to every question is, "But it's a shitty old building and it must come down," I'm not sure there WAS a conversation.
10 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
Roger & Jeff: This will be my final statement in this matter- there is no plan at this point. Roger: You know I support two-way traffic and I will whole heartily support funding when the Speck study is completed.
10 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
So, after significant back and forth, Councilman Phipps says Mayor Gahan is lying about there even being a plan and then won't say anything else? I know you're sticking with "Tear it down", Greg, but how about calling for honesty, at least as it pertains to your/our district?

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There may be a part 5 if I have time.

"Tear It Down," Sayeth the Councilman, Part 3: A civilian's due diligence as to 922 Culbertson's possibilities.

Part 1
Part 2

As the plot thickened, Jeff did something absolutely unprecedented, and far outside the customary "business as usual" box that one might be forgiven for imagining that it is prohibited by New Albany municipal ordinance.

He offered numerous cases in point from a wider world to show how the 922 Culbertson discussion might have been proceeding had it been (a) transparent and involving the neighborhood, and (b) not emphasizing squalid "business as usual," which has a way of being, well, usual.

Here they are.

Study: Older, smaller buildings better for cities (AP)

"While small, older buildings might not make for an impressive skyline, they may be better for cities than massive, gleaming office towers, according to a study released Thursday.

Neighborhoods and commercial areas with a mix of older, smaller buildings make for more vibrant, walkable communities with more businesses, nightlife and cultural outlets than massive newer buildings, according the National Trust for Historic Preservation's study."

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New Focus for Redeveloping and Revitalizing Communities (CPHA Baltimore)

"This means that a previously unoccupied, or poorly maintained, historic building is more likely to be developed into a place that could benefit the community and local economy, such as a locally-owned coffee shop, a renovated corner store, or a well-maintained home.

Strengthening existing communities prevents unnecessary building of auto-centric shopping and business centers in rural areas, which negatively impact the environment, and causes people to flee existing communities. If residents can shop locally and walk to work in their neighborhoods, communities will be more stable and sustainable."

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Detroit's West Village becomes hot spot for restaurants, revitalization, by Amy Haimerl (Crain's Detroit Business)

"That was in the glorious fall weather of last October, and the two walked the streets looking at Georgian Revivals, Tudors and a passel of other historic properties tucked way in the area. In their ramblings, they came across a commercial space at Parker and Kercheval streets.

'There used to be an old party store in it, and we kept looking at that space and saying, 'Oh damn, that would be such a great spot for a more upscale bodega like you see on every corner in New York,' ' said Kirby, 26.

And since Drought goes through three tons of organic produce a week, the two knew they'd have access to excellent fruits and vegetables to build a market/bodega around. (Bodega equals party store in the local parlance.)

Kirby and James started rehabbing the space in November — using $1,200 worth of credit card points James traded for Lowe's gift cards — and are planning a soft launch party April 3.

As they make plans for their grocery, a recent open house drew more than 20 people to 1417 Van Dyke St., all of whom were hoping that their business would be selected to move into the location.

'Things have evolved here,' said Hurttienne of The Villages CDC. 'That evolution has led us to the point where 1417 Van Dyke can do an RFP for a business to move in. That feels like a huge thing. It's just tremendous.'

That property is owned by Alex Howbert, a third-generation West Village resident. He is working with Practice Space to find the right business tenant for the Victorian house, which once housed a grocery that his father and uncles frequented."

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The (hi)story of a corner: Community and revitalization at Tower Grove and Manchester (The Grove)

Guy Slay is a firm believer in collaboration and the strength of such collaboration in driving a neighborhood to success. The drivers include the Grove Community Improvement District and its roles in marketing, infrastructure and security initiatives, the other investors, developers, and business owners in the neighborhood, as well as all his tenants.

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Corner Store Revitalization Project (City of Edmonton)

There’s been a shift in Edmonton’s retail landscape away from local community and neighbourhood shops. Shopping malls, mega-commercial strips, and power centres with stand alone big-box format stores dominate the shopping landscape.

This shift has drawn people away from shopping in their own neighbourhood at local corner store businesses and small local shopping centres. As a result, there’s been a decline in the number of neighbourhood stores and businesses, and a physical deterioration of many residential shopping sites.

The purpose of the Corner Store Project is to explore the actions the City might take to revitalize small neighbourhood shopping sites in mature neighbourhoods.

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"Healthy Corner Stores as an Economic Development Strategy" (Healthy Corner Stores Network)

Corner stores are a convenient food source in rural, suburban, and urban communities across the country. Most corner stores sell packaged foods and beverages of minimal nutritional value, alcohol, and tobacco products, with few healthy or fresh options. However, these small-scale
stores have tremendous potential to improve community health and promote economic development.

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Sparking Community Revitalization (White House)

"In 2010, the Obama Administration launched the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), a partnership across various federal agencies to combat the lack of access to healthy food by provide financing for developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores, and farmers markets selling healthy food in underserved areas. There are currently 23.5 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, living in neighborhoods without full service grocery stores and limited access to fresh, healthy food.

In addition, in 2011, the Department of Treasury provided $25 million in grants to Community Development Financing Institutions to fund healthy food initiatives and the Treasury’s New Market Tax Credits program includes 50 companies that expect to generate $461 million for HFFI activities. The Health and Human Services Department awarded $10 million to community economic development corporations to develop grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores, farmers markets, and other innovative initiatives to help revitalize communities. And U.S. Department of Agriculture continues their work to improve access to healthy and affordable food across the nation through various agency programs."


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Part 4 is on the way.

"Tear It Down," Sayeth the Councilman, Part 2: "Just how has this been a corrupt process?" Hint: Secretive nonsense.

Part 1 is here.

The Facebook discussion began at the newspaper's page, and then shifted to Jeff's. Here's the tip-off:

More obstinacy and secretiveness in the face of possibility and resiliency with my elected district representative (who, like me, lives nearby) characteristically silent on what has been a corrupt process from the beginning.

And voila! The layers began peeling.

Greg Phipps
Just how has this been a corrupt process? I say tear the damn thing down!
18 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
The city has spoken to numerous investors and has worked with historic preservation in seeking funding to save the structure. I have spoken to many in the neighborhood who live around this eyesore and most are in favor of tearing it down. Historic preservation needs to be more proactive rather than reactive. They wait until the 11th hour to save building then panic. Not all old building are historic and worthy of saving.
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
And "tear it down" is where you started, Greg, so when the City said $300,000 to stabilize to basic code compliance (an absurd number), you didn't question it. When the City did next to nothing to advertise the property as available or seek proposals and then declared no one was interested (based on that same $300K number), you again said nothing. And why is this building caught up in the $250,000 ask in the first place? Because Gahan and company are being obstinate, more interested in the ongoing Horseshoe feud than in actually salvaging the building. Why do you accept that City has a "plan" for the property but refuses to say what it is? Given that you're getting your preferred outcome, you've invested nothing in this process and implicitly supported ongoing, secretive nonsense.
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
"The City has spoken to numerous investors..." Which ones? How were they notified and/or selected? What terms were they given for the property? Are those terms available to anyone? That should all be public knowledge, and would be if the process were even a smidgen honest and transparent. Do you even know?
17 hours ago · Like

Greg Roberts
Jeff, Do you want to buy the building?
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
That's an impossible question to answer given the level of secretiveness thus far. Can you answer my questions above? What are the terms? Can you point me to where the City has publicly advertised them? In your opinion, are they realistic?
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
So, you guys really don't know if the property has ever been broadly and publicly marketed, what the asking price was, or what if any stipulations or incentives were attached? Seems strange to publicly defend the integrity of a process you can't really...See More
14 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Crickets they be chirping. All I want to know is: Where's the plan to fill all these holes we're making? We do have a plan, right?
13 hours ago · Like
Roger A. Baylor

---

Part 3 is coming.

"Tear It Down," Sayeth the Councilman, Part 1: The rudderless newspaper squanders another 922 Culbertson opportunity, but an informative chat occurs, anyway.

Where to begin?

The newspaper's new web site is utterly atrocious, and we must wade through interminable human interest photos and vapid sports stories before coming anywhere near "harder" news, evidently because subscribers desperately need the fluff they want, rather than the facts they need -- but hey, we can't fix modernity, can we?

The worst part is that all previous newspaper links that might help tell the 922 Culbertson story are broken, and so we start from scratch, just like the city seemingly does with each and very decision it makes, all of which are taken in the void, divorced from previous experience, principled commitment or future planning, and never with the assistance of the very best in contemporary book-reading.

The newspaper's latest skim-over leads things off.

CLOSING TIME: Old Culbertson Avenue tavern likely to be demolished

NEW ALBANY – A former tavern along Culbertson Avenue that was constructed in 1880 is slated for demolition as early as Wednesday.

Last week, the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County failed to take action on a $250,000 proposal to establish an endangered places revolving loan fund ...

... Mayor Jeff Gahan and New Albany Building Commissioner David Brewer said the structure would be salvaged if a new owner stepped up with adequate funding to refurbish the property.

How much such an undertaking would cost has been debated, as the estimates initially discussed by the city and Indiana Landmarks were a sizable range apart.

Then, as is its recent habit, the newspaper linked to its web site and asked a simplistic question, presumably designed to increase traffic flow and dribble farthings into the publisher's accounts.

Notice that the photo chosen (above) places the building in its worst possible light, and try not to act surprised.

A brief discussion began.

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Charity Codey Drake
Not worth it. May be historic or not. In the end if it were that important it would have been taken care of all along. NA gets goo hung up on historic.
August 23 at 9:46am · Like

Ann Breeden Reed
If the bones of the structure are good.....absolutely! If not, it comes down.
August 23 at 10:39am · Like · 1

Roger A. Baylor
Not before the mayor tells us (a) what happens to the vacant spot in terms of redevelopment and (b) who has shown interest in the vacant spot such that the building's removal suddenly has become so important that the mayor himself is involved with the decision. The public safety argument is a red herring. If public safety were the objective, we wouldn't have one-way arterial streets slicing through residential areas. City Hall runs from that one, and embraces demolitions. It's plainly hypocritical.
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
Some fun facts about 922 Culbertson Avenue: Up until 2013, it was an active property like any other, with a single owner since 2004. At the time of foreclosure just one year ago, the loan amount in question was $86,700. The county's own assessor currently places the property's value at $138,200. Since June, the City has been the legal owner, able to sell it for any amount. Per the City, however, it's suddenly an eminent danger to the community and can't even be given away despite the fact that the City has purchased and held distressed properties for years in the recent past.
13 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
Despite the City's dubious claims of diligence, this property has never been broadly and transparently marketed with clear, publicly knowable terms of sale and/or expectations. Review all the previous articles. Ever see the price or terms of sale listed anywhere? Ever see an explanation as to where the absurdly expensive $300,000 repair estimate came from? Any explanation as to what's actually wrong with the structure or what specifically is needed to address any code concerns? Nope. Does any of that sound like the actions of a group genuinely working toward reuse of the building? And, as Roger mentions, why are plans for the property being held secret if they expect, as stated, the neighborhood to be pleased? That doesn't make any sense, either.
13 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Consequently, the questions that MIGHT be asked if journalists were not extinct boggle the mind.
13 hours ago · Like · 1

Roger A. Baylor
But from the start, the newspaper has chosen to frame this story like a wrestling bout -- who's winnin', who's losin' ... look at that, Verle, a folding metal chair is in the ring.
13 hours ago · Like · 1

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Part 2 is next.

Reisz Furniture Building: Cautious optimism?

A part of this story seems to be missing.

Aren't we supposed to be providing potential developers with a tailor-made $12-15 million parking garage before they spend a dime of their own? Or was that just Doug England and Jack Bobo's backroom deal?

Meanwhile, does anyone recall the Historic District Building Tour way back in 2005?

The Reisz was included.

Remember how Bob Caesar, the human progress retardant, helped keep the Reisz building dilapidated?

We were there for that one, too.

Let's get real, shall we?

Given that the city of New Albany has done almost nothing to spur the first entrepreneurial round of downtown food, drink and retail upgrades, which now seem to be leading to a second ground of entrepreneurial housing additions sans substantive city assistance of any sort, there are two clear verdicts.

First, that the city best not take credit for matters with which it played no role.

Second, if the city DOES wish to (a) ever do something, and (b) take ever credit for doing something, that certain something should be two-way "completed" streets downtown, as soon as possible, over Caesar's sedated, bound and gagged body if necessary, because a modernized street grid for all users is the one way that the the city can help ALL the downtown stakeholders, and not merely some of them.

Do we need Democratic Party clearance for that one?

Offices, apartments planned for Reisz building in downtown New Albany; Contractor razed portion of structure Tuesday, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

NEW ALBANY — Five buildings consisting of office, retail and residential space overlooking a courtyard is what developer Ron Carter envisions for a portion of the former Reisz Furniture building along East Main Street.

Having received permission from the New Albany Preservation Commission and Board of Public Works and Safety, Carter had a portion of the rear of the building at 154 E. Main St. demolished Tuesday.

Gonder on the impending 922 Culbertson demolition: "This is a shame, and it didn't, and still doesn't, have to happen."

"Huh, I must have missed all the many announcements and advertisements letting as many people as possible know the building is available as part of the City's earnest effort to save it."
-- Bluegill, upon learning of the demolition

Because councilman John Gonder's blog entry about the fate of 922 Culbertson deserves the widest possible audience, I've decided to do something I seldom do: Reprint here in its entirety.

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Boxing Day

As Daniel Suddeath reported in the June 20*, News and Tribune, the building at 922 Culbertson is in the sights of the demolition crew. This is a shame, and it didn't, and still doesn't, have to happen.

The worn-out phrase from some distant management guru applies in this case, it is the requirement to think outside the box.

Inside the box, we see inadequate code-enforcement leading to the deterioration of the structure, which set it on its present perilous course. Many building in New Albany are in sorry shape. Are all these blighters the result of blind eyes in the past? If so, good, we can place blame with people who came before us, and what good does that do anyone?

Are the members of preservation groups strident in defense of the city's historic buildings and neighborhoods; do these groups, or individuals within these groups, rub bureaucrats and policy makers the wrong way? Probably, and so what? Is the Horseshoe Foundation derelict in its mission, not abiding by its bylaws which call on the Foundation to support historic preservation? A lot of people think so.

I've heard that in place of the old tavern will be several newly-designed versions of Habitat for Humanity houses. This laudable group does good and meaningful work, and is worthy of support, however, the houses they have designed for New Albany leave much to be desired. The placement and design of the houses does nothing to help the city escape the branding of certain parts of town as underprivileged, less desirable neighborhoods, and, therefore does not break the cycle of exclusion and poverty for the residents of those neighborhoods. Inside the Culbertson Avenue box, if the Habitat solution is chosen, we seem intent on making sure that this depressed neighborhood stays depressed and looks the part.

Does New Albany have money to fund the preservation and reuse of the building at 922 Culbertson? Not if you listen to the noise within the box.

Outside the box, there's plenty of money to salvage this building and help this neighborhood, as Suddeath reported June 19*. The sewer bond restructuring will pipe over a million dollars into City coffers. The rehabilitation of the building at 922 Culbertson has been estimated at between $150,000-300,000. Since the available funds to save this building would come from this rewrite of the bonds, perhaps it is fitting that the Sewerage Department share in the benefits of its salvation. Since the City's exhaustive search for willing parties to take on the rejuvenation process of the building has produced no results, why not use some of the savings from the sewer bonds, to invest in a first class renovation of the property and move the Sewer Billing offices there?

The structure is large enough to allow for the operations of that office to be housed on the main floor, with additional space on the upper floor for private offices for sewer employees or a field office for code enforcement, a police substation, or many other public uses. Even with the sewer offices there, the large main room of the tavern would be an ideal setting for a neighborhood Assembly Room, where from time to time governmental meetings could be held, including some City Council meetings. This would be an opportunity to deliver government services to the place where people live.

If the City's use of the property has the effect I believe it would, adding stability and vitality to that neighborhood, it need not be a permanent part of the neighborhood. The City's tenancy could be ended any time and the structure could be sold to private users. But, those private users would be buying into a part of town that has been greatly improved, and more inviting of private investment.

Inside the box rests a wrecking ball. Outside the box lies an open-ended list of possibilities.

One choice requires no imagination, and returns very little to the citizens of that neighborhood, or the city at large.

The other choice requires a hopeful vision for the city and all of its neighborhoods, a commitment to work toward an environmentally sustainable future, a city of walkable, safe, prosperous and interesting neighborhoods. What's the point of walkable neighborhoods, if you have no place to walk to?

Such neighborhoods can help New Albany rebuild, and bring vitality back to the city, as young people starting new families are given what many of their contemporaries are currently seeking in the older neighborhoods of Louisville, such as Germantown and the Highlands. It is not an overnight fix. It is, rather, a long slow process, and one which is immensely helped with a focal point such as the 922 building. If we don't seize some opportunity with this building, it will be a mistake. Will it be a mistake fatal to New Albany's future? Of course not. But it will be a mistake which we didn't need to make if we just looked outside the box.The lid's open. All we need to do is step out.

*June 20, 2014--News and Tribune, Old New Albany tavern to be torn down
*June 19, 2014--News and Tribune, New Albany City Council acts to restructure sewer bonds