(rshsdepot) Panama City, FL

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

From the August 27 edition of The News Herald.

Bernie Wagenblast



Depot May Be Demolished

Aug. 27--PANAMA CITY -- Spurred by a notice from the Panama City Police 
Department's code enforcement section, the Downtown Improvement Board took 
initial steps Friday toward demolishing the two-story Bay Line Railroad 
train depot building.
The DIB voted unanimously to solicit bids for demolition of the building, or 
allow interested parties to step up and refurbish or remove the structure in 
the next 30 days. The vote came after the DIB received a letter Thursday 
detailing five municipal code violations at the depot site.

If there are no takers, the DIB will move forward with a development order 
to demolish the building, which was built in 1924.

"If there's a developer who wants to take the building and do something with 
it, that's fine, too," said board member Bayne Collins.

Mayor Lauren DeGeorge called code enforcement Tuesday to lodge a complaint 
about overgrowth at the old train depot site along Beach Drive, prompting an 
inspection of the grounds and inside the building.

According to a police incident report, an inspection of the property 
revealed code violations for accumulation of trash and untended growth, 
maintaining a nuisance, unfit/unsafe structure, weeds higher than a foot, 
and excessive untended growth.

The formal request to the DIB from the police department asked for the 
proper disposal of all trash and debris, the cutting and clearing of all 
untended growth and the removal and/or repair of the building located on the 
train depot property.

Additionally, the police department asked the DIB to respond in writing 
within 10 days on how it planned to resolve the issues, or face possible 
fines and court costs.

DIB Board Chairman Dwight Hicks said a contractor who looked at the building 
told him it would take about $1.5 million to bring it up to code, due to 
leaking asbestos, lead paint and roof problems.

"We've tried to preserve this thing," Hicks said, adding that the DIB did 
not have the money to refurbish the structure, even with a $350,000 grant 
available for preservation.

Hicks pointed out that Commissioner Bob Barnard called DIB Executive 
Director Debbie Glick in May and requested the property's grass be mowed.

"And it was done in a week," he said.

Reached by phone Friday afternoon, an angry DeGeorge said she would fight 
the DIB and any efforts to demolish the structure.

DeGeorge stressed that all she wanted the DIB to do is mow the grass on the 
11-acre property and accused the board of doing nothing to keep up the site.

She said she planned to do everything she could to "clean out the DIB" and 
accused the agency of only caring about high-rise condominiums.

"They don't take any pride in our heritage," DeGeorge said.

A proponent of preserving the train depot building, the mayor said the DIB 
does not have the authority to demolish the building and vowed she would 
have a lot of support from city residents to save it.

"This is just another situation where the DIB is going to come out looking 
bad," DeGeorge said.

After Friday's meeting, Glick said it has always been a passion of hers to 
preserve the building. She said she was hopeful a developer would include 
restoration of the building in a proposal.

The DIB rejected three redevelopment proposals in July for the train depot 
property, partially because of low or no purchasing prices, and voted 
unanimously to draw up a new request for proposals.

It directed Glick to emphasize price in the new RFP, with building 
restoration optional. The deadline to submit new redevelopment proposals to 
the DIB is Sept. 2.

So far, Glick said 11 developers have picked up RFP packets, but none had 
submitted proposals as of Friday.

Glick questioned why DeGeorge did not simply ask the DIB to cut the grass, 
rather than complain to the police. She said she did not think it was 
DeGeorge's intent for the property to be cited.

If no one steps in to remove or refurbish the building, Glick said a 
development order for demolition has to go through the city planning board.

There, the DIB would have to get approval to remove the site from the 1987 
Historic Site Survey. If approved, the order would go before the City 
Commission for final approval, Glick said.

The executive director said she had not added the property to the DIB's 
landscape maintenance contract because she thought it would be sold by now.

Glick said she has a company lined up to clear the property's untended 
growth this week.

"I think it's an extremely unfortunate turn of events that we may be forced 
to demolish the building," Glick said.

She said she had obtained a rough estimate of $25,000 to $35,000 to demolish 
the building.

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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