Written by Robin: \Some time ago I suggested to the mayor that once the Elks is demolished (and it surely will be) that the city make good photos of the facade and save the limestone and reconstruct it at some future date for the facade of an ampitheater at the bicentennial park. Likewise, the trusses could be used for the overhang (stage). By making it a community project with sensible (read not government involement), it could be accomplished without tax dollars and hundreds of thousands of dollars for some favorite architect. While someone dropped a price of $75K to demolish the Elks, the actual quote that the Elks got (during the peak economy) was $38K. That price included clearing the debris (bricks, etc) down to the floor. So add $5k to save the limestone, cart the bricks to a city location (how about the shovel ready industrial park), use the prison labor to clean the bricks, and walla, we have the majority of materials to build an ampitheater. |