Hurdles to any progress at Palace Hotel
After reading Mike Geniella's recent articles about the Palace Hotel, where he seems to be attempting to create bureaucratic stumbling blocks in the way of anyone finally being able to do something productive with that property, which, after so many decades of advancing ruin FINALLY seemed to have some possibility of being transformed from the toxic black mold eyesore that it has been for so many years, into something that might serve human utility.
How frustrating, after, at long last, the city had given its hapless new owner 30 days to either stabilize the structure (impossible) or apply for a demolition permit, to now have these creative new hurdles to any progress there. It made me want to smack myself in the forehead!
Thank god for the excellent reportage of Karen Rifkin in last Sunday's Daily Journal; complete with pictures of the spray-painted lines on the sidewalk where ground penetrating radar indicates buried fuel tanks and an old advertising picture of the first floor service station that once occupied the Palace's ground floor along School Street, it makes Geneilla's claim that there is no evidence of buried fuel tanks ring hollow; remember, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
It turns out that research that has been done so far indicates that there are several long-forgotten buried fuel tanks, including one ginormous concrete tank that is within the building's footprint. Apparently and amazingly, some or all of them still have old fuel or oil in them that has miraculously not yet leaked out into the aquifer. Obviously, the highest priority should be given to accessing and draining these toxic liquids from those antique tanks, which are probably right on the verge of rupture.
No doubt this could be done without demolishing the building if money were no object, but that's not the case.
None of the arguments put forth by those infamous couple of knee-jerk preservationists who have given their unconditional devotion to the mythical rehabilitation of this long-lost ruin address the plain economics of their dreamed- of rehab; an interesting related fact is the bid that was given for seismic retrofit of the building in 1980, when the building was in the infinitely more salvageable condition. $8.5 million! That would probably translate to 25 million in today's dollars.
Is there really a serious entrepreneur who can imagine any use of the property that could pay the note on such an investment?! I don't think so, least of all the strident preservationists (I count 2 or 3) who certainly aren't going to have anything to do with borrowing the enormous sums of money that would be needed to fulfill their fever dream.
In my opinion it is a matter of criminal negligence for the city to entertain any further delays in the demolition and cleanup of the Poison Palace. If the inevitable had been done decades ago we might have a much nicer downtown today, but better late than never!