County Should Help Restore the Blanche
Posted October 22, 2017 02:30 am | Op-Ed
By
Christa Pribble
To the Board of County Commissioners, County Manager Ben Scott, Assistant County Manager Scott Ward, Mayor Steve Witt and the City Council, City Clerks, and Citizens of Columbia County and Lake City.
Regarding
the County's discussion of a bank loan to construct an
office building: Please consider what $10 million spent
on restoration of the Blanche Hotel could bring to your
community and county administration.
Working within a cooperative agreement between the County and Lake City our community could have a designated meeting space for Country Commission meetings, County offices where citizens can connect with their commissioners, and an anchor space for downtown that would preserve history and the downtown retail corridor with as little duplication of construction costs as possible.
The City and County should want to spend tax-payer dollars with efficiency and an eye towards future growth and the revitalization of downtown.
The downtown area is slowly seeing renewal, but the Blanche remains an issue that cannot be solved by one governing body alone.
To spend millions on a County office building that will serve all citizens of the County for decades to come, while a central asset to downtown crumbles before our eyes seems like a frivolous and near-sighted expense, to me.
If the County and City can work together to save a historical treasure, the citizens of this county might be able to share in the rewards of money well-spent, not only in visits to our commissioner's office, but also in restaurants and shops and weekend activities that could also find a home at a restored Blanche Hotel.
Please allow the citizens of this county and Lake City to feel pride that their tax dollars are being wisely spent by investing in the restoration of the Blanche Hotel.