Wednesday, June 19, 2024

City Officials, Owner Discuss State of Methodist Building

Ron Kelsay, representing 23 Public Square LLC, answered questions yesterday regarding the state of the The Methodist Building. The City of Shelbyville Building Department asked Kelsay to appear to discuss potential safety issues with the vacant structure.

Although a tree growing out of the top of the building was recently cut, graffiti and accumulating trash adjacent to the parking garage are still a concern, Rod Miller, with the Building Department, said.

There are also broken windows on the building’s south side, facing West Washington St.

“I don’t know how sturdy the glass still in the windows is, if there’s potential for those to fall out on the public right-of-way or not,” Miller said. There are also some boarded-up windows, which is true of several building downtown, Miller noted. “This situation is not a particularly good look. This kind of looks exactly like what it is, which is to say, vacant. Nothing seems to be happening.”

Kelsay, who had spoken with the mayor regarding the building in January, when Furgeson’s term began, said his company is still working on redevelopment. He noted that his company had previously redeveloped the former Preston Safeway building on N. Harrison St.

“I came in and spent millions of dollars in that building and redeveloped it into a nice property,” Kelsay said. “Some things take time. I’ve had The Methodist Building for a short time. I’m frustrated it hasn’t gone quicker, but it sat there for many, many years. There’s a reason the building is sitting there. There’s a reason the Knights of Pythias (building, also on Public Square), has been sitting there for decades undeveloped.”

Kelsay said several boarded windows were taken out intentionally to prepare the building for redevelopment. He said a contractor would be coming within a week to repair some of the windows damaged by vandals. He called the vandalism and graffiti adjacent to the parking garage “a joint issue” with the city.

One of the building’s floors is on-level with the top level of the garage, giving vandals an opportunity for easy access. Kelsay said there was no purpose fixing those until a redevelopment plan was in place, and he wants the city to be part of finding a solution, perhaps a barrier between the two structures.

Furgeson agreed that the city could be part of that discussion, although he expressed frustration it hadn’t been considered during the project design.

“We’ll look at that and see what we can do with that situation,” Furgeson said.

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NOTEBOOK:

• HOOSIER NEWS: The hottest new trend is constructing large wave pools in the middle of deserts, with developers spending tens of millions to build the large pools in places like Arizona and California. Of 162 surf pools built or announced, 54 are in areas with high or extreme water stress. The water stress is a real thing — one 14-acre wave pool in Lemoore, California, can lose up to 250,000 gallons of water per day to evaporation alone — and a proposed surf park that could hold 7 million gallons would still use 24 million gallons per year due to water loss. A 20-acre recreational lake, 3.8 acres of which are a surf pool, would use 51 million gallons per year according to Riverside County. In the Coachella Valley, those in favor argue that building a wave pool in the desert is still less water intensive than a golf course, the average one using 285 million gallons per year per course. (MIT Technology Review/Numlock)

• The Addison Times publishes essential news and historical content to build our Shelby County community, and is free thanks to the generosity of supporters. Those who donate a minimum of $5 a month (or $45 one-time) receive the three remaining quarterly Addison Times magazines for 2024 as an appreciation gift.

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This Day in Shelby County History

News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.

2014: Although surrounding counties were reporting multiple cases of shigellosis, an infectious disease, there were no reported cases in Shelby County, hospital and health department officials said.

2004: Ricci’s Deli opened at 20 S. Harrison St., former home of Good Fellows East Coast Italian Restaurant. The restaurant was owned by Brian Lemmer. Ryan Galbraith was manager and marketing director.

A Shelbyville home, 303 W. Washington St. appeared in a movie called “The Passenger.” Filmmakers had used the home, owned by Brent and Karen Morgason, as the home of the movie’s main character.

1994: Expansion of the shipping area at VTI, 1406 S. Meridian St., was complete. The new expansion would allow the company to load its fleet of trucks inside, out of adverse weather.

The Shelbyville News created its first email address, shelbynews@aol.com, and conducted its first interviews through email, asking readers how they used the internet. Eddie Beal, an electrical engineer, said he used AOL primarily to discuss and debate religion and ethics. Since none of the service providers were local at first, Beal had to first pay for long-distance calls to use the internet. Rex Basey also responded. He encouraged readers to take advantage of AOL’s 10 free hours to see if the service was for them. Basey said he had received a message from a distant cousin in California whom he did not know. The cousin had found Basey’s AOL profile and sent an email.

1984: Paxton Trucking Co., 950 W. Washington St., began construction of a 10-foot high fence, visible from Habig St. The company had contracted Joe Macke, Terry Higdon and Charles Gobel to do the work. Kenneth Paxton said building the tall fence and blocking view of the property was the easiest way to avoid being in violation of city zoning laws.

1974: Local Democrats attended the Democratic State Convention in Indianapolis. Among the delegates attending were Mayor Jerry Higgins, County Commissioner Edwin Yarling, Donald Mendenhall and City Councilmen Cassius Bennett and Kenneth McCoy.

1964: A traveling salesman’s car rolled and flipped down a steep embankment after he missed a turn at the intersection of State Road 44 and Cemetery Road, four miles west of Shelbyville. The man’s life was saved because he was wearing a seat belt, which was not yet a standard feature in vehicles. The man was still trapped in the car following the accident and refused help from local farmers despite gasoline leaking onto the hot engine. He instead waited on sheriff’s deputies to arrive. “I thought I’d wait for the pros to come,” he said. The wreck caused major damage to the vehicle and $25 loss of soybeans on Russell Schofner’s farm.

Demolition work began at 222 S. Harrison St., owned by Nate Kaufman, as well as on the LaRue building next door. The white building owned by Kaufman had housed apartments upstairs and the Piatt Furniture Co. downstairs. The properties would be black-topped and used for off-street parking until new development came in, Kaufman said.

1954: State Trooper Jack Means, 28, formerly assigned to the Lawrenceburg area, was assigned to patrol Shelby and Rush counties. Means was a U.S. Navy veteran and held a degree in biological science and physical education from Ball State Teachers College.

1944: In what The Republican hailed as “good ration news for the nation’s housewives,” all cheeses except cheddar cheese would be ration-free for two weeks to prevent June surpluses from spoiling. Cheddar cheese would continue to be 10 points a pound.

1934: Zion Evangelical Church held an all-day event, consisting of an outdoor morning service and church picnic in the woods at the home of Alva Kuhn. The pastor spoke on “Resting Under the Trees.” Robert Kuhn, Albert Law and Frank Fuchs had organized the events.

Water polo games were held at Porter Pool. Harry “Bud” Whitcomb, Frank Coffin, Paul Collins and Dwain Murphy were team captains. The games were played between the islands in a space 75 feet long.

1924: Sweet corn arrived from the south. The price on Public Square was three ears for 25 cents.

1914: Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Lemmon, of Harrison Ave., reported their five-year-old daughter was missing. The neighborhood was scoured and then police began searching the city. The child was eventually found asleep in a wardrobe in her home.

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OBITUARIES

None today