The Wold Drug building is one step closer to getting a new look in the near future, after the finance committee of the Austin City Council approved nearly $40,000 for additional renovations to the building.

Wednesday, April 04, 2001

The Wold Drug building is one step closer to getting a new look in the near future, after the finance committee of the Austin City Council approved nearly $40,000 for additional renovations to the building.

The new renovations will include the removal of steel siding placed on the building in the winter as a temporary remedy to an unsightly exterior and the placement of a new store front, complete with new framework, windows, doors and finishes.

"Do you know how many people have commented on that?" Mayor Bonnie Rietz said of the negative comments she has received from people regarding the siding.

The city started renovating the building in the fall of 2000, but winter stopped the planned improvements and the siding was installed for the Christmas season.

"It’s a sorry state to not carry out our plans," Second Ward Councilwoman Mickey Jorgenson said. City Administrator Pat McGarvey said the council took on the building a year and a half ago for two reasons: its location and its history in the community. Now it intends to finish what it started.

As part of the plan approved in the action passed by the committee on Monday, bricks on the north exterior wall will be removed and replaced and new windows will be installed on the second story.

The city expects to close on the sale of the building this month. Steve Swain of Lebanon, Mo., will be paying $65,000 for the building. According to McGarvey, Swain intends to renovate the building for use as a new or used computer or appliance store. The upper floor of the building may be renovated for apartments or offices.

The costs of purchasing the building in the first place and renovating it, beyond Swain’s purchase price, will be paid with taxes generated by improvements within tax increment finance district No. 10, including Hormel Food Corp.’s construction of the SPAM Museum and its Corporate Office South in the former Kmart building on Main Street North.

"That’s a good investment," Third Ward Councilman Dick Lang said of the money the city has put into the building. As part of his motion to approve, however, he stipulated that the $40,000 should be the end of the money the city spends on the building.

The council will approve or disapprove the funding for final city improvements at its April 16 meeting.