They referenced the historic significance of a building that one opponent of demolition called “a compass point in our lives.” Residents lobby city to save the old ABJ buildingĪs they have throughout the process, diligent residents, including several members of Progress Through Preservation of Greater Akron, attended the afternoon and evening council meetings Monday. The main portion was built in 1928, with an addition in 1960, according to county property records. The city administration, which is the first to review plans before they go to the commission or council, said it “would be open to tearing off the back end of the building,” which was added in the 1980s before the newspaper won its third and fourth Pulitzers. Wheeler also said the historic designation “applied to the entire building,” meaning the commission would not entertain a proposal to partially demolish the building. The commission granted 90-day extensions, giving Mouron more time to find a buyer, in October and February before voting 5-0 against demolition in May.Īt City Council on Monday, Chairman John Wheeler said the commission “did not feel that (the historic property) met” the requirements of demolition. City is open 'to tearing off the back end of the building'īecause she was representing Mouron, Murphy recused herself from the Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission each time her client’s request for demolition came before the body. “I would like to emphasize that we are not giving up on saving the building,” Gantz told Akron council’s Planning Committee members Monday afternoon. Murphy and Gantz said meeting all four requirements was “an impossible task.” They also said Capstone made the effort “to seriously search for a viable” reuse. “The owner has been taking care of” the property. Councilman Jeff Fusco, who chairs the Planning Committee, asked if the property is deteriorated. “I think everyone here agrees that the building is significant,” said Murphy. The other requirements, which must all be met in order to get a certificate to demolish, are that the structure “lacks historic or architectural significance,” that owning the property “is not technically or economically feasible,” and that the commission determines “there is no feasible alternative to demolition.” The owner would have to run afoul of city ordinances to let the building fall beyond repair. But in order to demolish a historic landmark, the owner must meet four requirements, the first being that the building must be “so deteriorated that its integrity has been irretrievably lost.” City law requires private property to be maintained. The property’s new designation as a historic landmark, however, presented the new owner with a Catch-22. Twenty months later, Mouron went back to the city, this time seeking permission to demolish the building after failing to sell the property in deals sweetened by the tax credits. Mouron went to Akron council in February 2021 seeking historic landmark status, which allowed Capstone to add state and federal historic tax credits to other possible tax breaks that would have made it more economically feasible for someone to retrofit and reuse the one-use building. Sought-after historic landmark status now blocks demolition Murphy, who also serves on Akron's Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission, acknowledged Monday afternoon that her client is keenly aware he may have to go to court. If Mouron can't get one of these mystery buyers to bite, he would have to go back to the Akron Planning Department with a different plan, perhaps to tear down less of the building, or sue the city for the right to realize the economic potential of a parking lot on his private property. The architects would not speak in detail about the interested buyers, saying that all parties are under non-disclosure agreements regarding the potential deals. In an afternoon committee meeting, Mouron's architects, Justin Gantz of North Canton and Elizabeth Corbin Murphy of Perspectus Architecture in Cleveland, said the developer still has two potential buyers with plans to reuse the property, but they're running out of time and interest. The former Beacon Journal building stands vacant at High and Exchange streets in downtown Akron.
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