Gura Building Use Committee is Flawed

The following is a blog post included in our local voices section. It does not reflect the opinion of Southington Patch but one of our regular readers.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, I spoke at the Town Council meeting regarding the Gura Building and the current Use Committee. FYI, I was the only resident that attended this public committee meeting. The following is the text of my prepared statement that I read from:

Back in December 2011, we were told by the Chairman “The council’s goal is to make sure everything’s looked at objectively, that’s the only thing I want to see done, a true and honest analysis.” THE GURA BUILDING USE Committee is NOT impartial. You simply can NOT have three members connected to the Cultural Arts Committee of the YMCA and be impartial. You can not have the Chairman of the Parking Authority be impartial when he wants to sell it to a businessman where he could then grant them a parking waiver.

1. The committee’s initial demolition costs were overestimated at $500,000 but Attorney Mark Sciota got a recent solid estimate to do all the hazardous materials removal and demolition at $210,000.
2. An outside engineering review in June 2011 of the GURA building stated the basement was unusable and noted that the second floor is not and cannot be used for heavy storage because it is STRUCTURALY deficient. First committee members said they didn’t have to make the second floor handicap accessible, now they say they can fund-raise up to a $1 million and install an elevator.
3. Councilwoman Stephanie Urillo stated it shouldn’t be demolished because it’s a historic building in a historic district. But the Town Attorney stated it was neither a “historical building” and there is no historical district.
4. Attorney Sciota stated that the Town has already applied for and received a permit for the demo several years ago. Councilwoman Urillo asked with delight if the permit had expired? The answer was no.
5. Mr. Riccio stated that it would cost $50,000 to turn the site into a little park. Really? To extend the grass in front of Town Hall and add a tree, a Lampost and an ornamental bench like on the Town Green? Get serious! Maybe only a couple of thousand - NOT $50,000.
6. Paul Chaplinsky says the building is valuable from a tax base point of view, but leasing a town building to a non-profit generates no tax revenue. Chaplinsky is the Vice Chair of Planning and Zoning Commission, and claims demolishing the building would not be the BEST USE, but his last piece of expert advice was that moving any Town Departments to the new North Center facility was wrong. That was disproven by the three outside planners the town brought in. But that delay has cost this town thousands of dollars in extra costs. So much for impartial expert opinions on this committee.
7.  By the way, nobody else is talking about expanding the Town Hall Parking lot to the street like this committee is suggesting….but watch them all change their tune when the YMCA tears down the two houses at 110 & 116 North Main Street and double the size of their “right on the street” parking lot.
8. The Southington Community Cultural  Arts people, like many organizations in this town, have great intentions. Maybe if the buys that vacant Bank of Southington-TD Bank building at 130 North Main Street they can lease out part of that building for a Downtown Art Center.

But the Gura Building needs to be demolished.

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