My feeling, is this neighborhood has seen better days; the decline of a part of the city from thriving neighborhood to encroaching ghetto.
Usually, blight begins with the construction of a mall/huge shopping complex, which drains local businesses of needed revenue, causing them to fail, leading eventually to joblessness and poverty.
The first signs of blight are poorly kept properties, property owner no longer has a vested interest, taxes unpaid, damaged building facades, fewer people circulating in neighbourhood, increased crime in area to name a few. The solution to abandoned derelict buildings will require a fine balance of thinking.
I am confident city council wants to see this as well.
And in the case with our long-standing, but inaccessible-to-the-public Lyceum, there are many who appreciate this.
This is not our only vacant building. What we don’t want to see happen is quick decisions without considering the consequences, which has happened in other cities.
Derelict programs such as financial incentives for owners to tear down resulting in loss of architectural heritage or empty lots with no development plan in site to name a few.
I would think factors mentioned on tbnewswatch.com by local citizens such as length of time vacant, health or safety risk to the public; underused municipal services or unpaid property taxes would be criteria for notice to sell or renovate to the owner, with a limited time to put forth a plan.
When the owner cannot be located and depending on that length of time there would be some leverage for transfer of ownership to the city.
That would give the city an opportunity to potentially recoup money for unpaid taxes and return property to a living environment.
In the case of the Lyceum, I agree with others who have stated the same “to save the face of the building” similar to Victoria Avenue Commerce Bank.
We have so little architectural heritage left in our community.
The brick, mortar and moldings in themselves have a story to tell.
I learnt so much about the external structure of the Prince Arthur Hotel last year when the city hosted Open Doors.
Take a look at the fine workmanship.
It’s not pre-fab. What about a preliminary determination of blight giving the owner a set number of days to respond with a plan?
If the situation is not resolved in this time, through the courts, can the city not pass an ordinance authorizing the city to acquire the property and then auction it off? For those whose comments were “out with the old and in with the new,” I remember when I thought like that about everything.
A balance would be nice.
