Effort to save the 200 block of W. McCarty has taken a disappointing turn
See the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarter 2007 Yesterday and Today Newsletters for most complete coverage of our efforts to save this block. See (with Microsoft browser) and read KOMU coverage on this topic: Bassmann Decision |
September 17, 2007 The Medin Ordinance, 2007-73 was vetoed by Mayor John Landwehr in this regular council meeting. This is a crushing blow to HCJ. One week prior in a contenious vote of 6-4 the city council voted to adopt this ordinance that would have allowed the city to enter into a lease/purchase agreement with the Historic City of Jefferson for the Bassmann house at 207 W. McCarty. HCJ felt they had won a huge victory! After many years of council members who considered historic preservation as an impediment to progress, we have a council that understands the economic, cultural and aesthetic benefits of historic preservation. The Mayor had used his veto powers sparingly and also had said to us and others that he wanted to see the Bassmann spared. We felt cautiously optimistic. We had come a long way and overcome the largest obstacle, that being garnering the support of the city council. We have also raised much public awareness and support in Jefferson City for our cause. We failed, however, to convince the monied interests.
The reasons for the mayor's decision are given in a 3-page document. Click on the link to read in pdf format. All of his concerns are old arguments that have been addressed by the current council. For them, the concerns were satisfied. That should have been enough for the mayor. Basically he states three reasons for his decision.
First, he says the Bassmann house "is not historic". This was clarified several times. It is historic in that it is on the National Registry of Historic Places and eligible for historic tax credits. Also, it received a Historic Landmark award in 2000 from the Historic Preservation Commission. The craftmenship of the house is no longer practiced and the stonemason who built it was well-known having done the stone work on the current Capitol building.
Second, the mayor said his veto would show fiscal responsibiltiy. So instead of essentially giving the Bassmann to HCJ, the city having paid $200,000 for it, he would rather give it to a private developer. He will even tear down the houses on the properties at an added cost to have it nice for them! There are several problems with this. First, the area in question with the house on it was valued at $60-80,000 not $200,000. Second, there is only one potential conference center developer who has claimed he must have the properties for his plan. Five have said they could work around them. So the city could tear down the properties, then find out that the best proposal for a conference center does not include using the land the historic buildings are on! In the meantime, the renovated properties could have been generating taxes, income and economic activity in the area while providing cultural and aesthetic benefits. Hopefully, the mayor did not veto this ordinance to favor the one developer that wants to tear down the houses.
Third, the mayor said he was following a long range vision set out by the city council that purchased the property in 1998. It was bought to tear down for a conference center. But facts have changed since that decision, most importantly the State Health Lab was recently vacated in the adjacent block and is available for developement to add to the area in the 200 block of W. McCarty. With more land now available pressure to use the land that the historic properties is on has been eased. This is why several developers have said they can work around the properties. One developer even claimed he would pull his proposal if the city tore down the houses at 207 and 211! It is evident that a conference center and renovated houses can co-exist in this block.
HCJ is very disappointed in the mayor's veto especially since the reasons given have been addressed to the satisfaction of 6 of his 10 councilmen. That should have been enough for Mayor Landwehr.
Our last effort in regard to this block is to encourage the city not the use our tax dollars to demolish the houses on the land. Let the conference center developer do that! What if the city spends money to tear them down only to find that none of the developers want the land! Or worse still, wanted the land, but wanted the houses on them too! Eating establishments, bed and breakfast and galleries in the old houses would be an aesthetic compliment to a conference center enterprise.
Councilmen Brian Crane has protested the awarding of Bassmann to HCJ on the grounds that it puts "the cart before the horse". There is some merit to this argument. We think the city should wait before tearing down the building to see if the best proposal even wants the properties and if so, do they want the houses also. If they don't want the properties, then find buyers! If they do, then let them bare the expense of tearing them down. We have been waiting this long to see something done, we can wait a little longer in order to see that the public is best served.
We thank the councilmembers who supported us throughout this long and protracted debate. Ron Ferguson, Rich Koon, Cindy Layton, Jane Smith, Jim Penfold and especially Ron Medin, the sponsor of the ordinance, thanks to them all for bringing a fresh perspective to city government.
We cannot praise enough the outpouring of support from our HCJ members! They have responded with phone calls to their councilmen, letters to the editor and their presence at many city council meetings. It has been an impressive esprite de corps!
Read Jenny Smith's letter to the News Tribune of June 20, 2007 after City Council Meeting of June 18, 2007. Also read Tony Smith's letter to the Tribune published on September 23, 2007.
On July 10th, in a shocking move, the Housing Authority annouced that it will not sell the houses at 211, 215 and 221 to the city. Their reasons have not been fully revealed. It was reported that they must make these buildings available to convention/converence center developers. Developer, Richard Groner appeared at the July 2nd council meeting to announce that he would need the buildings destroyed to build a convention center on the site. He did not mention this in previous discussions with the city. The other 7 interested developers have indicated they did not need to have the building down. Is the Housing Authority aware of this or are they showing favoritism toward this one developer? Do they realize also, that there are viable proposals to renovate the distressed properties at 211 and 215 and return them to the tax rolls? The Bassmann house at 207 W. McCarty is owned by the city. Separate negotiations regarding its future may be discussed at the Monday July 16th City Council meeting. HCJ supports awarding this property to HCJ or another viable party to renovate. CONTACT YOUR CITY COUNCILMEN. The demolition of the house at 221W. McCarty is no longer on the agenda due to the Housing Authority's decision not to sell them.
This is a summary of the history of this effort, updated 7-14-07. Four properties in the 200 block of W. McCarty have been on the demolition track for 8 years. These properties are in the National Register of Historic Places; two blocks from the Capitol and the downtown business district, one block from the Truman State Office building, Highway 50 and Capitol Plaza hotel. The city and housing authority who own the buildings let them set vacant since 1999 holding out hope of seeing a convention center built in this centrally located block. When this hope faded the city decided in January 2007 to have them demolished and to construct some surface parking. Having sat vacant for 8 year the houses suffered neglect and no longer met city code. Since that time HCJ has been in a flurry of activity communicating with city officials and exploring with them alternatives to the destruction of more or our architectural heritage. Contractors, private investors and HCJ itself prepared proposals for the purchase and renovations of 207, 211 and 215 W. McCarty. HCJ conceded that the property at 221 W. McCarty with a caved in roof would not be cost-effective to save. The city formed a Conference Center Selection Committee and in March 2007 this group agreed to hear presentations of these proposals for renovations. The committee determined that three viable proposals were received for 207, 211 and 215 and recommended to the city that the properties be awarded to these investors. |
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| The Bassmann House at 207 W. McCarty. Elegant, despite its 8 years of being vacant and neglected | ||
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| Kolkmeyer House 211 W. McCarty after 8 years of neglect still has it's beautiful original woodwork. | ||
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| 215 W. McCarty, a solidly built, no-frills foursquare with great potential for big open rooms | ||
Since that time the city administrator reported at the June 18th city council meeting that after talking to 8 potential developers of a conference center in this block none of these developers had to have the buildings destroyed to offer a proposal for the site. This was very good news for Historic City of Jefferson who all along have maintained that preservation of the old houses and the building of a conference center are not mutually exclusive. We can have both. Yet, there is still a small but vocal group calling for the destruction of the houses. They say the buildings are in the way of progress, even though it is now clear they are not. They say they are an eyesore. We agree! But blight is reversible. Demolition is not. To demolish them and to construct a surface packing lot would cost the city money and any tax-generating potential of the properties would be lost. The refuse from the demolished building would further strain our landfills. Renovated properties on the other hand would be returned to the tax rolls, contribute aesthetically to the streetscape and provide jobs and income for the businesses that move into them. Those seeking to have them torn down have not done the math! All parties do agree on one thing; the buildings are distressed and are a poor reflection on the city in a very visable part of town. HCJ believes they could be turned into a source of pride for Jefferson City. WE NEED YOUR HELP. CAN YOU MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO OUR CAUSE? Donations to the Gregory Stockard Heritage Fund would go directly to this preservation effort. Our current efforts are the renovation of 1102 E. McCarty. History of the Houses The houses were all built by the same contractor, Henry Kolkmeyer between 1907 and 1911, a German stone mason. He did some work on the stone work at the Captiol and the Supreme Court. Reportedly, the stones from the old Price mansion that was torn down to make room for the Supreme court building were used to construct the house at 207 W. McCarty. This house is currently known as the Bassmann house, after the last family who lived there. It and the Kolkmeyer house at 211 are especially significant in that they retain much of their original character. The house at 215 has been gutted of original details and made into apartments but could be renovated to big open rooms, ideal for office, retail or a gallery. Each of these 3 houses have high ceilings on each floor including the basements. They rest on limestone foundations. These solidly built stone and brick homes have dry basements, no foundation cracks and no creaky floors! They embody the rich architectural heritage of Jefferson City’s early German founders and were built to last for centuries. They are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bassman house received the Disignated Landmark Award from the Historic Preservation Commission in 2000. In 2007, the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation declared these houses on the Most Endangered List. Our last hurdle before these stately old building come down is to convince the council to wait until the conference center developer has been selected before it moves to demolish them. It is our strong feeling that our tax dollars should not be used to tear them down. Let the developer bare that expense if they want them down. This would save the city demolition costs and the cost of laying down surface parking. Perhaps a developer would decide that renovated properties would compliment their enterprise. The properties would be returned to tax-generating businesses, contribute to economic development, contribute to an aesthetically pleasing curb side appearance, preserve our architectural history and reduce the impact on our landfill by reusing and recycling what we have. The city wins, the public wins. Contact your city councilman to urge them not to use city funds to tear down these buildings. Stay posted. |
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Much of the original interior woodwork has survived the years in the Kolkmeyer house at 211 W. McCarty. The fireplace (left) and staircase (right) are recent photos |
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