By Scott Sullivan
Editor
The historic Douglas City Hall at 86 W. Center St. is back on the market with new restrictive covenant stipulations after an investment group backed down from its sales agreement July 21.
City council, concerned about the 1875-built former Dutcher Lodge’s exterior character be preserved for future generations, voted Monday to approve legal counsel’s provisions that any sale be contingent on:
- No demolition without prior written city consent;
- Exterior changes must maintain the building’s historical look, with materials and finishes of similar quality and visual character to existing conditions; and
- These restrictions will run with the land and are enforceable only by the city.
At its last meeting, council tabled a $650,000 building offer from Worth Investments LLC “after receiving 11th-and-a-half-hour concerns from the buyer seeking a deeper dive into looking at the building,” city manager Lisa Nocerini told members.
Worth’s offer is now off the table and city realtor Bernie Merkle has put the property back on the market with a $599,000 asking price, Nocerini said.
The venerable downtown property was deemed surplus following plans to combine city hall, police and public works offices at the former Douglas Professional Center at 415 Wiley Road.
That 18,000-square-foot building, which sits on 7.8 acres on the southeast corner of Blue Star Highway and Wiley, is now undergoing renovations by Carbon 6 Construction. Douglas plans to occupy it by year’s end.
“The intent of these covenants,” council’s resolution Monday read, “is to preserve the historical visual appearance of the property as viewed from Center Street and Union Street, while allowing for reasonable upkeep and improvements consistent with its character.”
