Business 
owners reject plan for the downtown

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MORRISON – The pleadings of nearly 50 residents and local business owners failed to sway the City Council, which voted unanimously Monday to shoulder the cost of restoring the collapsed building at 101 E. Main St.

The three-story eastern wall of the historic, 150-year-old brick building slid into Genesee Street nearly a month ago – the cracked brick and crumbling mortar filling the street and blocking traffic. The building was vacant, and no one was hurt, but the rubble remains.

The council voted to ink a deal with Princeton-based Key Builders Inc. to design and subcontract the restoration at an estimated cost of $360,000.

Ultimately, the council wants to restore the long-vacant and uninhabitable building because the city’s development advisers say the historic structure is a necessary component of their plan to be recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

Citizens and business owners packed City Hall, spilling out of council chambers, to implore the council to reconsider spending the better part of a $425,000 grant to rebuild the shell.

Some felt the council had determined a course for downtown without consulting the people who keep it running.

Terry Wilkins, an investment broker who works downtown, organized Monday’s demonstration and asked dozens of questions of council members.

“There is a great lack of understanding of the project and a lack of knowledge about what they want to do,” Wilkins said. “We want to make sure the council is reflecting the wishes of the people, not making the decision for them.”

One business owner wanted to withdraw from a proposed historic district because he feels it is a waste of tax money. Another wanted the city to open Genesee Street, barricaded for months because the building was deemed unsafe. Still another wondered aloud why the council is sending most of the grant money to a building that has sat vacant and uninhabitable for more than a decade while she continues to invest in her business with no help from the city.

Initial plans call for the city to build a new shell while leaving the building’s interior, including plumbing, electrical and climate control, unfinished. The cost of those renovations would fall to prospective buyers. The council also does not plan to remove asbestos from old pipes.

Economic development advisers People’s Development Corporation, which approached Morrison with the historic district plan, believes national recognition will benefit the entire city.

Among the benefits of national recognition are a series of tax incentives for building owners who do renovations on their property.

Wilkins called the idea “a cart before the horse plan” in which the city needs to have a vision and plan for downtown before it commits taxpayer dollars to a project “without a comprehensive plan.”

“I want to be clear,” Wilkins said after the meeting. “I respect those people [on the council]; I respect what they do. I want this dialogue to remain about the issues that matter to us both.”