City to condemn Sears building

By CARRIE KIRSCHNER - The Independent

ASHLAND May 01, 2008 11:52 pm

— The clock has run out on a downtown housing project, according to city officials.
Ashland city leaders gave developer Perry Madden a March 1 deadline to have a plan for refurbishing the former Sears building at the corner of 17th Street and Winchester Avenue or else tear it down.
With the March deadline two months in the past and no concrete plans from Madden, city officials are moving forward with condemnation proceedings.
Greg Rice, director of planning and community development, said he expects the building to be condemned by the end of business today.
Whether condemnation will bring the building down remains to be seen — the estimate to demolish the six-story building stands at six figures and is not in the city budget. If the city demolishes the structure and places a lien against the property it could take years to recover the funds and would make the property harder to sell for redevelopment.
Ashland Mayor Steve Gilmore said he has had conversations with Madden about possible condemnation proceedings and was assured it would not come to that. “He had stated to me in the past that the city would not have to condemn and then take the action of demolition; he would do that before the city could,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore expressed regret that the situation had come to this point.
“It’s a landmark building and it’s a building I personally would much prefer be restored and made a vibrant corner of downtown again but that obviously isn’t going to happen,” he said. “We think its a detriment to extended development in the area.”
He added he also feels the building is a danger with bricks and mortar falling from it and asked Madden several weeks ago to fence the area off — a request he immediately complied with.
Madden and his wife, Susan Madden, who own the entire block facing Winchester Avenue including the Sears building, Henry Clay House and the former J.C. Penney buildings, had planned to refurbish the entire block.
The Penney’s building was demolished last year to make way for a 40-unit senior housing complex. But it now appears that project may also fail to come to fruition.
Perry Madden was out of town and could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday night.