It was last week that the Danville City Council Public Works Committee approved plans for the city’s purchase of the old Strahl Building, at 115 North Washington, for $29,900. Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk told CIMG that night that this would open up the space right in between the current Danville Mass Transit building and Bunge for an expanded Danville Mass Transit facility; which the city plans to pay for with a grant that’s been awarded to Danville.
But prior to the vote by the full City Council at Tuesday (July 15th) evening’s meeting; Alderman Doug Ahrens spoke up and asked why Danville would be spending taxpayer money on a building they would never occupy, in order to spend more taxpayer money to tear it down? Ahrens told CIMG afterwards that with other blighted properties around Danville that still need torn down, those structures should be a higher priority.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: Obviously we’ve got hundreds and hundreds of houses that have that need. And it also creates liability exposure for the city to own a building it has no intention to inhabit. So we’re out giving away more money, without taking care of what we already have, and it’s not rational.
(First Picture, middle) Danville Alderman Doug Ahrens. (2nd Picture) Photo of old Strahl Building passed out by Ahrens at start of meeting. (3rd Picture, left) Danville Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk.
But Danville’s Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr expressed thoughts that were echoed later on by Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk. First, the city intends to tear down the structure with money left over from the Bresee Tower tear down. And second, not buying this structure now could mean someone else buys it; leading to all kinds of trouble, such as having to go to court to proceed with the planned Danville Mass Transit Building expansion.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: We have to wait for the finalization of the Bresee Tower demolition; to crunch the numbers to see what the city can and can’t afford. But the whole idea of this purchase, as the mayor stated tonight; was to secure the building, and ensure that the structure doesn’t fall into quote/unquote the wrong hands. And then we have a real big problem endangering public safety.
The purchase passed by an 8-5 vote. The “no” votes came from Aldermen Ahrens, Tom Hightower, Jalen Jones, Tricia Teague, and Jon Cooper. Alderman Ed Butler was not in attendance.
