Although Danville City Council members did not vote on two key issues last evening (Tuesday), they did hear comments about another issue that has been around for years. Dee Ann Ryan said the city owes it to taxpayers to get assurances that the right decision is made regarding the historical Bresee Tower….
{AUDIO: ‘’As aldermen and city leaders you owe it to your constituents to at least ask the question. Ask the question whether one of the most iconic structures would be of interest to a proven developer before you commit to spending more than $3-million dollars for demolition.’’}
Kathleen Orrington also addressed the Danville City Council about Bresee Tower during the meeting…
{AUDIO: ‘’Mayor Williams…is doing a great job of taking down a lot of abandon properties and cleaning up areas, and that’s wonderful. I just think that it’s important to think about Bresee Tower as not a typical building. It’s a historical building. It’s a building that’s on several lists of historic buildings, and it’s definitely not in the category of hardly any of the buildings that we have in this town.’’
The women said Bresee Tower needs to be given one last look, and Ryan said there should be RFP’s (requests for proposals).
In May a judge granted a deed giving the building to the City of Danville. The building’s owner, Chris Collins had failed to file a complaint to prevent the transfer. Collins said afterwards that he will be back. He said dreams of turning Bresee Tower into a 1920’s era hotel are still alive. But Danville Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr. said Collins has never shown the city any investors who are ready to do something with the building.
