Cohen told the land bank board the city is hoping to pair the First Avenue project with efforts to demolish the old Lincoln School across the street.
“The idea is if we were able to work these properties in concert we have a pretty good set of land that could be redeveloped and remove a lot of what the neighborhood complains about for blight,” she said. “Neighbors in that area call frequently about those two properties together.”
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Cohen said there are issues with the state historical society regarding the school, but feels that could come to a resolution soon. She said Community Development Block Grant funds would be used for the school project.
Cohen said the corner lot could be used for additional parking for the Salvation Army’s summer food program for school children and signs for downtown. The demolition cost is $20,153.
The cost to down the roofless building and large dangerous parking lot on Central Avenue is $22,050 and $20,400, respectively. Commissioner T.C. Rogers, who is in the construction business, questioned the cost to get rid of the parking lot.
“Apparently they had an original parking lot and when they went to put a new one on top of it it wasn’t done correctly,” Cohen said. “So now effectively to do the demolition you have do through two sets of bad concrete jobs so it becomes more expensive to resolve it.”
Land bank attorney Tim Carlson said the pockmarked parking lot is a magnet for skateboarders and very dangerous.
“They try to skateboard on it and I see kids go flying,” Carlson said. “Kids get beyond the fence and they think they can use it but it’s all broken up and it’s a danger.”
Land Bank Administrator Kathy Dudley recommended the land bank get a 50 percent “claw back” on the $42,450 demolition if the property is sold for redevelopment within three years. It is consistent with what the board did when it agreed to help Trenton down a commercial building.
The other project will be outright land bank funding.
When it came time to vote Rogers said he was thinking about saying “no” to the parking lot. But others on the board urged him to agree.
“I think the important thing about getting rid of the parking lot, I realize it’s a high price, is this will most likely be redeveloped a residential,” Middletown Councilman Joe Mulligan said. “There would not be a need for a big parking lot.”
After Dudley told the commissioner there is $250,000 left in DTAC funding until the next cash infusion comes in March, Rogers voted for the parking lot removal.
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