DEMOLISHING the former Terrace Co-op building may be one thing. Doing something with the property afterward is something else entirely.
That has always been and remains one of city council’s main conundrums since purchasing the Greig Ave. property and building in Nov. 2005.
Last week’s work underway to determine what may be lurking underneath the ground at the site is another conundrum.
No prospective purchaser is going to step forward until whatever pollutants, if any, are discovered and the cost of dealing with them then determined.
And it’s obvious that the cost will take away from whatever value the city might derive for the land.
It’s been easy enough to criticize the city for its 2005 purchase decision. After all, a $1 million deal on the part of a small city in the grips of a recession is no small matter.
But even if the property had stayed in private hands, the city would eventually come to the same place where it is now headed.
And that is, once a prospective purchaser is found, determining what kind of development ultimately makes sense for the property and whether that development is compatible with the city and taxpayers’ overall vision for that section of the downtown area.
At the rate things are going, however, it may take even more years before that debate can be seriously entertained.
