The Republic from Columbus, Indiana • Page 4

There are possibilities beyond retail being bandied about, such as using the property for educational purposes, a performing arts center or convention space. The seven- member board is in the process of obtaining a new appraisal for the property, valued at $3,420,000 in 2009 when it belonged to the Miller-Sweeney-Irwin Foundation. That foundation donated the property to Columbus Capital Foundation in 2011 when it was divesting its assets. also been talk of Columbus Food Co-op using 9,000 square feet of the store as its first home, which would require a lease agreement with the foundation. Columbus Commons LLC presently manages two other tenants in the building, YES Cinema and for the foundation.

The public has a role to play in the process of determining the future of the property, foundation board Secretary Tracy Souza said. is a critical piece of property in downtown she said. lot of space and public parking across from it. We want the public to have its The property includes the former Sears retail store and former auto center, with nearly 10,000 square feet under roof, plus 3.5 acres of paved parking. Sears opened a store at that location in 1973 in what was then called the Courthouse Center, a mall containing a bookstore, a cinema, an ice cream store and other shops.

The name was later changed to The Commons Mall. The first Sears, Roebuck Co. store opened in 1929 in the first floor and basement of the Bassett Building. The store later moved to 629 Washington St. The closure of Sears will mean the loss of major property tax revenue, a clerk in the County office said.

Regarding taxes: Sears paid $63,358.24 in property taxes in 2013 for the retail store and the auto center. The amount property tax due in 2014 is not yet available. Property tax will be owed in 2015 because Sears was open through March 9 of this year. Property is assessed and valued March 1 of each year. Columbus Capital Foundation does not have to pay property taxes on property it holds if no profit is being made on that property, Souza said.

Tenant opinions Schumaker, who has been on the board since it was established in 1992, said although the property is being held by a private, nonprofit organization, the board feels the input of other stakeholders and the public is important. Two of those stakeholders are YES Cinema and located along the east side of the building facing Jackson Street. Randy Allman, executive director of the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center, which operates YES Cinema, said from the prospective the best use of the former Sears store would be something that brings people downtown especially in the evenings. first and foremost, that place needs folks who can pay Allman said. YES Cinema has a conference room and the stadium-style area, but Allman said the city could use additional meeting space and breakout rooms.

pretty comfortable with the space we Allman said. He said some kind of collaboration between the private sector and a nonprofit or two be a bad idea, either. YES Cinema was set up that way because the Lincoln- Central Neighborhood Family Center opened it as a for- profit business to raise money and to provide jobs and teach occupational skills to people living in that neighborhood. think the wave of the Allman said. opened Sept.

1, 2011, and specializes in teaching art and design using the city as a living laboratory for the study, evaluation and understanding of an integrated, comprehensive design. Director Kelly Wilson said students from Indiana University in Bloomington attend classes at the center in Columbus, which was picked because of the unique architectural heritage. He said Indiana University is putting a strategy together for its art and design program and Columbus will play a key role in that strategy through more students and more professors. That means there will be need for more classroom space and residential housing for students attracted to the program, Wilson said. And that, in turn, means the university might be interested in some of the space vacated by Sears as it attempts to put together a degree program, he said.

Any growth of the program will require commitments from the university and the city, he said. Wilson said Columbus generally does a great job of putting together a coalition to address an issue, talking with stakeholders and then working to identify and fix a problem. they do it from the bottom he said. no edict from Other stakeholders City officials and other stakeholders also have been involved in early discussions about the future. One of those is local philanthropist Rick Johnson.

a core piece of property for the Johnson said. think Columbus Capital is a great group of folks representing the community and is doing a good job of walking through the process of determining what will be the best use of the property. I think in great A viable business plan is important because the foundation does not have funds to invest and is not interested in developing the property, even with a partner. Souza said no one saw the departure of Sears coming, but the loss should be viewed as a challenge and an opportunity. Mayor Kristen Brown, who is a member of the board, agreed.

still in the beginning of the Brown said. Brown said the board wants to get a good understanding of the wishes and desires and understand going to be economically feasible for the property. The mayor said there are many ideas that have been discussed, and one she finds particularly interesting involves establishing an artisan retail center similar to what Berea, has been able to do. That community, 40 miles south of Lexington, is home to a variety of folk arts and craftspeople including furniture makers, painters, glass workers, jewelry designers, potters, sculptors and musicians. Exhibitions and festivals featuring their works are conducted throughout the year.

would have artisan goods available at Brown said. think we would need some help and support from the state for that Brown said the city might be able to use tax- incremental financing to help with some potential brick-and-mortar projects. Overall, Brown said she likes to see ideas considered that would drive tourism in Columbus. Schumaker said important the public realize the property is not on the tax rolls and does not belong to the city or any other public entity. The board alone will make the final decision about the property, he said.

The job is to find the best long-term fit for the property and ensure it adds to and complements existing downtown businesses and organizations, he said. If a good use involving sale of the property be readily identified, the foundation may become a long-term landlord, Schumaker said. could be mothballed for a he said, or even longer. The Republic, Columbus, Sunday, March 16, 2014 A4 Limited time offer FREE WIRELESS MUSIC SYSTEM Like us on facebook Sound Savings of Event March 21 31 $1300 VALUE! FranciscanDocs.org Teresa L. Lovins, MD, is welcoming new patients at Columbus Primary Specialty Care, a Franciscan Physician Network practice.

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Maryann Bridge, Dr. Pamela Robertson and Dr. John Henley with South Central Indiana Pathology and more than 100 hospital employees provide laboratory services for patients. Staff Reports CHAPTER Continued from Page A1 Columbus Capital Foundation Established: March 27, 1992 Purpose: To identify acquisition, restoration, repair, landscaping and maintenance needs related to private or public historic, cultural or architecturally significant sites or structures located within Columbus and Bartholomew County. The present board: Chairman Hutch Schumaker, president at Coca-Cola Bottling Columbus; Mayor Kristen Brown; John Burnett with the Community Education Coalition; County Commissioners Chairman Carl Leinhoop; Brian Russell, president of Russell Development Mickey Kim, chief operating officer of Kirr Marbach and Tracy Souza, president and CEO of the Heritage fund The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.

Purpose: To identify acquisition, restoration, repair, landscaping and maintenance needs related to private or public historic, culturally or architecturally significant sites or structures located within Columbus or Bartholomew County. Owns: The Crump Theater and Sears block; and has the Irwin- Sweeney-Miller Foundation partnership interest in Hotel Indigo Hotel and the new Cummins Office Building in The Commons. The Irwin- Sweeney-Miller Foundation, established in 1952, deeded the Sears block to Columbus Capital Foundation in 2010 as part of its effort to divest itself of its assets and end its gift- giving efforts. That information along with input from two focus groups and an open house will be assembled by Gareis and the foundation board, said Souza, who also is president and CEO of the Heritage Fund The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County. At that point, the board will at least have options to consider.

It however, be tied to any of those options, Schumaker said. OPTIONS Continued from Page A1 RANDY ALLMAN RICK JOHNSON KRISTEN BROWN KELLY WILSON Consultant: Glenn Gareis Recent employment President, GMG Architects LLC, Carmel, since 2012. Architect and urban development strategist, Storrow Kinsella Associates, Indianapolis, 2010-12. Principal, Development Concepts, Indianapolis, 2004-10. Instructor of architecture, Ball State University, Muncie, 2003-04.

Senior project manager, Schmidt Associates, Indianapolis, 2002-03. Senior project manager, HNTB Indianapolis, 1997-2002. Project manager, Odle McGuire Shook Indianapolis, 1990-96. Education degree of arts, degree of science, Ball State University, 1976-1981. REPUBLIC SPORTS Get results from all your favorite high school, college and pro teams here..