Merchants’ demolition plan is a good one

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Guest view: Merchants' demolition plan is a good one

Winona Daily News - Winona,MN

By Stacey Mounce Arnold | Winona

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2006/06/20/opinion/01guest20.

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To tear down or not to tear down, that is the question.

I have been following the pro and con comments regarding the

proposed demolition of several buildings owned by Merchants National

Bank. Having renovated three large downtown buildings, I understand

what it takes to complete a successful renovation.

I decided to do some research and gather the facts before making a

decision. With Merchants' permission, I went through all eight

buildings. Let me tell you my report:

All eight buildings have black mold growing on all levels — in the

basements and walls, even the insulation. I can smell the mold the

minute I walk in. There is also asbestos in every building.

The upstairs apartments, that were rented up until not too long ago

are appalling. They are primitively put together with plywood, cheap

paneling, 1970s carpet with stains and cigarette burns, broken

tiles, cracked linoleum and closets built with two-by-fours that jut

out from the wall. The kitchens and bathrooms are in such terrible

condition that I am surprised they meet code. Floors are caving in

due to water

damage and rotting wood. Nothing has been updated, restored or taken

care of for years and years. I would be ashamed to rent those

apartments to anyone. There is evidence that children lived in these

areas. The apartments are a health hazard. I would not let a cat

live there, and I don't like cats.

Some of the basements have dirt floors. There is evidence of a sink

that was hooked up to plastic piping to the basement, its contents

left to just soak into the dirt floor of the basement. Another

basement had garbage piled four feet high. The one building that

used to be a dry cleaning business has contaminated ground

underneath due to irresponsible disposal of chemicals and wastes.

Merchants has placed monitoring wells to have the groundwater tested

to measure the extent of the contamination. The findings will

determine how much ground has to be removed in width and depth.

Mold, rotting roofs and floors, asbestos, soft brick that is falling

apart and environmental contamination — these buildings are not

restorable.

The square footage of the area being designed for the parking lot

already has 45 percent parking space now. After getting my tour, I

stood out in front and looked at the surrounding buildings in

downtown. There are other buildings with much more architecture and

charm that we should be more concerned about. I think the Merchants

plan is an attractive solution that fits their needs. They are

listening to the community's input. They have renovated their

banking facility several times with care and sensitivity to the

architecture of downtown Winona. They invest in and care for their

facility so it will be one of the gems of downtown Winona in the

future, as it is today.

Let Merchants put up their parking lot. They will help the city with

its parking problem by loosening up the 12-hour parking lot and off-

street parking. Change is hard to accept, but in order to move

forward we have to weigh all the facts, and you have them now.

For all of the pro-renovation folks out there, I suggest that you

purchase a building and renovate it. If we desire to preserve

downtown Winona, it will be done building by building and dollar by

dollar. Many of the buildings that have been renovated have been

assisted by local, state and federal dollars. Most of the original

programs are no longer available. It is time for the city to provide

more incentives to make the downtown more attractive to renovators

and investors.

Guest views are opinions of the author and don't necessarily reflect

the views of the Winona Daily News. They are published to stimulate

thought and to provide an expanded forum on issues of local

interest.

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