City Moves Forward on Demolition

13 Jun City Moves Forward on Demolition

Following an impassioned, last-ditch plea by the Circus Arts Foundation, Council voted 4-3 to move forward with a “partial” demolition of the circus arena buildings, sparing selected infrastructure in hopes that the Foundation can accomplish successful fundraising efforts.

As the deciding vote, Mayor John Holic commented, “I look at (the vote) this way: We mitigated the octagonal building and will demolish the three-bay building. We now have a plot of ground that anyone can look at for any type of development, without fear of hazardous material on it. This is the last stand for the Circus Arts Foundation. We are taking money from the FAA and are going to be obligated to now put that land out for best and highest use. If they can come back as the best and highest use, we will be fine with that.”

VASI has not taken a position on the Arena’s disposition and instead remains more concerned on the “highest and best use” and fair market value issues as they pertain to what the city and community decide to do with the 12 acre parcel. VASI submitted the following memo to council and staff at the beginning of open discussion on the matter.

An approximate timeline has not been set for the partial demolition. In a related story, Councilman Bob Daniels has suggested seeding Economic Development Committee business development efforts using Airport Enterprise Funds. The use of airport funds for economic development initiatives would obligate that effort to include the airport for economic opportunity outreach, which seems to be consistent with Mayor Holic’s desire to market the airport’s available property to interested parties.