That was six years ago now. What gives? Where is the parking lot? And will there be one there soon? Well, there's been some water that has flowed under the bridge since then that has caused us to put an extended pause on that idea. For starters, when we tore down the old Chetek Cafe building in 2019 for just under $50K it gave us all a case of sticker-shock. If it cost half a hundred thousand to get a patch of ground on Second Street, how much would it run us on Moore? Certainly not “more” but still it won't be cheap.
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| A building that had stood for 100 years went very quickly |
And who is going to tear it down? Due to its proximity to The Center and the Mosaic building, it's unlikely an outfit like Stout could bring one of its big excavators in to do the demolition. In 2019, I reached out to a local Amish man and had him walk through the building to see if he could organize a crew to do it. Let's just say that as he walked through his eyes seemed to get bigger by the step. The present building has at least four roofs on it (a layer of shakes, two layers of shingles and metal sheeting to boot), interior walls that have been built out and ceilings that have been dropped down which all spell “buyer beware” to a prospective demolition man. That Amish feller never did get back to me.
A couple of years ago, a Property Committee was formed made up of local citizens to evaluate all the currently owned city properties. They toured the library, the police department, The Center, City Hall, the City Shop and the Jost building. It was their opinion that a parking lot at this location was not a top priority. And in the meantime there has been a change in the make-up of the council and I know that at least a few of the current members are not in favor of such a project as well.
Recently Carmen had an inquiry from a local resident if we were interested in selling the building. While nothing is official, if this person was serious the matter would first go to The Plan Commission. It would be their task to assess the inquiry and then recommend yea or nea to the Council. Ultimately, the council would have the final say on the matter.
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| When events are going on at The Center parking is at a premium |
There are some ideas that are good and some that, well, are good but just not cost-effective. Maybe the idea of a parking lot next to The Center is one of the latter. We can certainly continue to park on the street from here to eternity. Of course, if we were to sell the building the idea of a parking lot next to The Center goes with it. While I personally still think a parking lot there would be a good thing to have reality is, when it comes right down to it, I may not have a say in the matter. Here's hoping we choose well.
