Your Turn: What Do You Think About This Possible Demolition Project?

Hello everyone, I'm sure you've heard, but there's going to be some change downtown in Sedalia. Well, there COULD be. 

Basically, from what I understood earlier this week, the Equitable Building is going to be demolished. That's not 100% true, I've learned recently. If you don't associate an image with that name, I'll put the picture here.

Now I know some of you don't believe this, but I actually don't have any special inside trader information about what's going to happen with this building. In fact, you might know more than I do. From what I can gather on social media, it's been bought by the county and they might tear it down and turn it into a parking lot. I'm assuming they want to expand the parking for the Pettis County Sheriff's Department and the Juvenile Office next door.

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Some people are saying, let it go, who cares, of course they need the room. Nobody has used the building for ages, and it isn't accessible for anyone who can't use stairs. The other half of the argument says that it's been around for more than 100 years, it's got a lot of rich history, and if we can keep a piece of our past, we should. But people were mostly upset that they felt like the decision was rushed, and it was already made.  That's the part that's not true.

According to Eastern Commissioner Israel Baeza, everyone was kind of jumping the gun.

The County Commission wants to be very clear, at no point has a decision been made to take any action on any vacant county property. What the Commission has done is perform due diligence by taking two bids, one for a restoration of the building and another for a demolishment. This standard practice was done to make the most informed decision on the reality of the cost required to decide the future of this building.   As this is a public building, we are required to make it ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) compliant, and we are also pursuing those options to serve all citizens of Pettis County. This is a good, fiscally responsible procedure required to make an informed decision with your hard-earned tax dollars.

So, they HAVEN'T decided to do anything yet.  I guess this is where you come in.  I don't have a dog in this fight, so to speak. I like keeping the historical buildings, sure, but I have no personal memory or connection to it.  And I get that it's crowded down there, and they might need more space. Who knows, it might or might not be worth the work.  I'm not an expert and I have no idea how much work it would take.

The key is, what you think.  I wanted to put it out there that a decision hasn't been made, so if you HAVE a strong opinion on it, weigh in!  For more information, please contact the office of the Pettis County Commission at 826-5000 Ext. 410 or email shepardn@pettiscomo.com.  I'm assuming they'll also want to hear what you think about what should be done, as it's a county owned building.

So, Sedalia, here's your chance to speak now.... or hold your equity.  Sorry.  That was bad.  I'll see myself out.

Equitably yours,

Behka