by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The buildings may be weathered but, for the first time in more than two years, they’re secured. Now the Police and Fire Pension Fund says it’s ready to rehab the Bisbee, Marble Bank and Florida Life buildings at the corner of Laura and Adams streets.
Pension fund assistant administrator Richard Cohee said this week they’ll work with KBJ Architects on the project.
If possible, the Fund will readapt the Trio for mixed commercial/ residential use.
“We had three responses for a Request for Proposals we sent out and, at our board meeting, we chose them (KBJ),” said Cohee.
PQH Architects and architect Ted Pappas also responded to the RFP.
“We’re excited to be working with them because now we’re going to be able to start the process of getting a structural evaluation of the buildings,” said Cohee. “We’re not engineers so we’re looking forward to hearing what they have to say.”
Demolition inside the buildings won’t happen any time soon.
Cohee said after KBJ’s 60-day evaluation of the property concludes, more questions than answers may surface.
“We want a tangible product as much as anyone, but it’s going to be some time before we’ll know what we have to do to move forward,” he said. “We’re just now taking our first steps into the project and we still need to determine if it can be done.”
Money, he said, is another concern.
Aside from applying for State Historic Preservation Commission grants, local money is also being sought by the Fund.
Approximately $1 million may come out of a soon-to-be-passed Autumn Bond proposal. A reported $2 million could come from a Historic Preservation Trust Fund grant.
More money may add to the project’s vitality, but the City remains divided over what the Fund should be awarded.
City Council member Lad Daniels said during Monday’s Finance Committee meeting the City should stay far away from the project.
The City gave the buildings to the Fund earlier this year, and that’s more than enough, Daniels said.
“I feel like we’ve done our part,” said Daniels. “We gave them the property and they have sufficient funds. Let them go forward alone.”
Including unpaid liabilities owed by the City, Council auditors said the Fund is currently worth more than $1 billion.
Council member Art Shad said the Fund will get the $1 million they’re owed, so why not give it to them up front.
“The City is on the hook for those dollars,” he said. “If it’s a matter of allowing them to move forward with the development and improving the area, I don’t see a downside.”
The committee, including Daniels, recommended approval of the bond allocation.
“We still refining our plan,” said Cohee. “But we really do want to move forward.”