An Asset or Albatross?

City Hall taking charge of this problem property makes sense. We’ve got good people serving on the board. We should encourage our aldermen to take a leadership role to coordinate what’s to happen. With the city’s commitment comes stability and an opportunity for individuals and community groups to rally with contributions to assure that the present problem becomes a real community asset.

The owner of this derelict property was planning to abandon the premises with more taxes coming due. The community will eventually confront safety issues (loose bricks, falling window glass) and expense on a prominent storefront property with an uninterested, absentee owner. It makes sense for the city to take control of the situation now rather than be forced to deal with even worse circumstances later.

After all, it’s not likely the property will attract a buyer. No qualified buyer has emerged for the past several years. In fact, the current owner contemplated public auction to liquidate and then even backed off from that notion, fearing auction expense still might not deliver a qualified buyer. Left unattended, this bad situation can become deplorable.

What if some community group accepts possession of the property, hoping for better times ahead? Let’s explore this a bit. Is ownership of a vacant building by a volunteer group a good idea – is the building an asset or an albatross?

This question confronts many small towns, not just Gallatin. But Gallatin offers an interesting case study in the GARA (Gallatin Area Revitalization Alliance) building. Do you even know which building I’m talking about?

Its entrance is one doorway north of the Active Aging Resource Center on South Main Street. This building once housed an appliance and repair shop (owned and operated by Joe Kulis) but sat vacant following his death until it was essentially given to GARA in June 2004.

There is historic value. This building carries forward the architectural integrity of the original Townsend Block in Gallatin. Fire altered the buildings here but in yesteryear all the storefronts north to the 4-way stop were of the same design.

The GARA building is easily overlooked. The window display never changes. The exterior needs painting but it is neither so bad that it cannot be ignored nor good enough to attract attention. The roof should be good for several more years. The interior is solid and offers potential. The GARA building is in far better shape than most other vacant buildings that blight Gallatin’s business district.

For the past several years, GARA has kept a low profile. This community improvement group of volunteers was once spearheaded by Dave Wilson, a former owner of Sandman Motel, who has since moved away. The organization initially filed registration papers with the Secretary of State (has that distinction lapsed?). A few noteworthy improvement projects were accomplished and are still appreciated, such as new trophy cases for the school and replacing the decorative ball atop the Daviess County Courthouse. But GARA has been inactive for years.

This is the time to talk frankly. GARA is an example of how volunteer community groups surge, then wane… primarily because there is no continuing revenue stream to sustain interest and activities. No money. This throttles back most volunteer efforts. There are many examples.

Until last week, the Gallatin Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) hadn’t held a board meeting for decades. There is no revenue stream (current interest rates on bank accounts can hardly be considered significant). Besides, with every lot in the business park sold and prospects for job creation here dim, there’s little motivation for meetings just to meet.

The Daviess County Historical Society continues in name but only by individual rather than group effort. No revenue stream. The last history book published in 1985 marks the last group effort, and those volunteers have retired or are otherwise dispersed. (Note: Daviess County owns the 1889 Squirrel Cage Jail where the Historical Society oversees its use as a visitors center; interest on its bank account hardly constitutes a revenue stream. So, ironically, we have a visitors center without the funding to keep the doors open to the public! Hello …er, “Welcome to Gallatin?” Ugh!)

Let me give you a list of fine community groups with the same problem … no revenue stream: Daviess County Fine Arts Council, the now defunct Chamber of Commerce, Unity & Community, Christmas Around the Square, Scare Around the Square … and the list goes on.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of small towns. But, all too often we’re content to ride on the enthusiasm and efforts of others for as long as we can, watching as the torch transfers to other volunteers or until efforts wane. When efforts wane, it’s usually because there’s no revenue stream.

I respect volunteers. More times than not, I “are” one. But it’s hard for volunteer groups, even with noteworthy goals and the very best intentions, to perpetuate. So, as I discuss GARA as an example here, please consider it as just another name on the list of groups that help to improve our community even as successful efforts ebb and flow.

What separates GARA from all these others is ownership of a building.

Today there are still a few dollars in a GARA bank account. There’s enough to set the heat on low during the winter months to help keep the walls from cracking. But there’s not enough money available to do any serious remodeling or renovation to put this building to some good use. So the building sits idle, not exactly abandoned but mostly ignored …even unwanted, when you consider the next time the roof needs to be replaced. GARA has no revenue stream.

So, is the building an asset or an albatross? Sometimes you find the truth when you ask your neighbors what they think.

GARA has offered its building to Gallatin Theatre League (GTL). Some suggest that with additional space next door to Courter Theater, the GTL could host dinner theater productions. This sounds good to us in the audience. But such strategy vaults a periodic pleasure for these talented hometown performers into a business venture with more bills to pay and other responsibilities beyond the scope of what GTL has embraced in its past. So far, the GTL has not developed this idea into a revenue stream.

Others say perhaps the Senior Center needs more storage space. But the Senior Center operates on a shoestring. Does it really want the additional expense of a 2-story building when the need is actually much smaller?

Is it good for any community group to own a building in Gallatin without the revenue stream to perpetuate its intended use? Selling vacant buildings in Gallatin is hard; depending on the circumstances, sometimes you’re lucky even to give one away.

This is why the GARA building sits idle with its future somewhat bleak. Still, it’s likely to remain out of public scrutiny unless glass falling from neglected windows hurts somebody. Or until the roof needs to be replaced.

Perhaps someday somebody will want to buy it or rescue it from an ugly demise like the cupola building to the north up the street. At least, with municipal ownership, the cupola building can perpetuate and be in use. In fact, in my opinion, only a tax-supported entity like the city or the county should accept the risks of owning a vacant building here – and then, only on certain conditions.

Any volunteer community group that takes over a vacant building in Gallatin without some revenue stream to cover the responsibilities of ownership is taking on an albatross. It may look good for awhile; it may even buy enough time for some unlikely happy ending to unfold. But usually such an endeavor simply postpones the inevitable.

The GARA building hardly inspires community pride, but it is still among the best vacant buildings available in Gallatin’s business district for the time being. Left ignored or forgotten, as it stands today, how long do you think it will take for that to change?

This reality thrusts City Hall into the picture on what’s to happen with the cupola building so prominent on our business square. This problem property is an opportunity for our community to pull together. City Hall taking charge of the cupola building makes sense. Surely there are lots of good ideas for its eventual use to consider. Let’s start talking.