Less than 24 hours after The Columbian newspaper reported it is in deep financial shit and will have to move back to its cruddy old building while trying to sell or lease its new, $30 million tower across from Esther Short Park, the city of Vancouver is making noises about purchasing the new building and making it into a new city hall.
The newspaper building at 415 W. Sixth St. could be an ideal resolution to the city’s decade-long effort to consolidate city operations under one roof, said Eric Holmes, the city’s economic development director. He said the building is the right size, in the right place and the price is in line with the $35 million to $40 million the city expects to spend redeveloping the Esther Short Building into a new City Hall.
And it might make sense in more ordinary times.
However, right now this trial balloon is likely to be met with widespread catcalls if not pitchforks. The idea that taxpayers would jump in to save publisher Scott Campbell’s skin in the midst of an historic economic collapse is outrageous on the face of it.
If the city is actually serious, they should wait a year or two and see how much the property is worth, ’cause there’s likely to be a lot of space up for lease in downtown Vancouver. As I’ve noted before, most commercial activity downtown other than the growth industry of criminal justice seems to center around development and related fields, like banking, insurance and engineering. Plus some restaurants who feed the developers on weekdays.
Maybe the new Columbian building would make a nice judicial annex for our fellow prisoners.
who gives a shit
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@1–uh, regional blog you know. I doubt I’m here for my good looks. Anyhow, we only have 400,000 people here in Clark County. No big thing.
It’s not as if close gubernatorial races can hinge on news coverage (or the lack thereof) here. My bad.
I think the city should wait until Campbell is broke, the Columbian is in liquidation, and the bankruptcy trustee offers the building to the city for $15 million. That’s how I like to buy stocks.
I like Rogers plan.
@1. I like having the non-Seattle stuff on here. I wish Goldy would pickup someone in Tacoma to do a little blogging.
Brilliant video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz4Z6L4u8E4
Othello, Lynden, Eltopia, Ephrata and Bitter Lake and Centralia are also not here much …
Newspaper faltering, they all are … so what
City might buy building for city hall, sounds like a ripe moment, what is the news?
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again, who gives a double grade horses ass shit in Seattle
remember, war, great depression, presidential race, AIDS raging, violence in the streets, and on and on
besides, sounds like some grudges are emerging
Goldy has plenty of those for us all