Tuesday, February 16, 1999
Middletown sorts mall plans
Commission meets today for input
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — When city commissioners sit down at the table today, they will feast on a smorgasbord of proposals about what to do with the dilapidated City Centre Mall.
Some offerings may be a repeat or expansion of ideas they have heard before. Others will be fresh.
Probably the newest idea will be one from TRT Properties Inc., which involves the company's buying some of the city-owned mall buildings, including the G.C. Murphy structure.
“We'd be interested in entertaining a proposal to buy all (six) of the city-owned buildings once the mall roof is off,” said Ron Decker, who with Anthony Marconi and Tom Williams make up TRT.
Commissioners will also hear from the Downtown Middletown Partnership, the Middletown Historical Society and the Preservation Restoration Improvement of South Main (PRISM), and have more input from local entrepreneur Perry Thatcher.
Today's meeting will likely end the 90-day input period begun late last year to help commissioners decide the fate of the mall, said City Manager Ron Olson. But no decision is expected immediately, he added.
“I think they need to set some time aside to talk about what they've learned during this process, get answers to other questions, decide where they want to go from here,” Mr. Olson said. “Until they get through the process, I think it's impossible to say how long it will take to make a decision.”
Most plans include razing the roof on at least half the covered mall. Some include demolishing all or part of the buildings.
Paul Nenni has urged fellow commissioners to move on and decide the mall's fate. Others say they don't want to rush a decision.
During the 6:30 p.m. meeting, Dolores Palma, a partner with HyettPalma Inc. of Alexandria, Va. — a national consulting firm that deals with downtown revitalization — will discuss the current trend in downtown development and downtown retail activity. Ms. Palma will also comment about the plans by Mr. Thatcher and by Cleveland architect Jonathan Sandvick.
Mr. Sandvick's $17 million “Option D” plan still appears to be the most favored. It includes razing most of the roof, restoring the building facades, reopening Central Avenue and adding a farmer's market.
Mr. Thatcher's “Option F” is to remove the roof from half the mall, enclose the fountain and reopen Central Avenue, for an estimated $9 million. Mr. Sandvick said that, based on the same formula used to estimate Mr. Thatcher's plan, his option would likely cost about $5 million.
TRT's plan could reduce city costs, because the company said it would offer the city a fair market value for the buildings it owns. Mr. Decker said TRT has no idea what that figure might be.
But if TRT buys the build ings, “We would hope the city would contribute to having the facades restored,” he said.
TRT, which recently bought four other buildings in the mall, plans to open an assisted-living and adult day-care facility in one of them, the Castell building, Mr. Decker said.
The company wants to “revitalize the downtown's historical image — enhance it with streetscape, landscaping and lighting,” Mr. Decker said.
Plans for the buildings TRT now owns include putting a restaurant in the building next to the Castell, tearing down the next building west and creating an outdoor courtyard for a restaurant.
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