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Sale of old hospital still an issue with Marion council

BY JOHN D. HOMAN, THE SOUTHERN

Monday, August 18, 2008 11:25 PM CDT

MARION - The problem simply won't go away.

Marion Mayor Bob Butler convinced Commissioners John Goss and Jay Rix earlier this summer that it was in the city's best interest to try to sell the former Marion Memorial Hospital building on West Main Street rather than tear it down and sell the property. The two supported Butler over the objections of Commissioners Lannie Gribble and Bob Owens who prefer demolition of the existing building.

Nearly three months later, there is still no check in hand for the city and the grumbling is growing louder from within the ranks.

At Monday's meeting of the city council, Owens asked Butler about the $25,000 in earnest money paid by California investor Bruce Harrell with the Viamar Trading Company. Owens said that if the payment is nonrefundable, why couldn't it be placed in the city's general fund?

Butler said there was no need to worry about the escrow money at this point - that the project was moving forward, slower than he would like, but forward nonetheless.

"I got a call from Bruce today and he told me the bank (source of his loan to buy the hospital) was going to appraise the property and add an asbestos inspection."

The mayor, however, did not disclose the name of the lending institution even after Goss asked.

Owens said the city has invested about $4 million into the old hospital and it's time to cut the losses and run.

"The title work to the property was done in 2005 when it was supposedly sold before," Owens said. "And you've seen how things have gone on from there."

Gribble said Harrell had not followed the timeline set by the city to complete the financial transaction.

"There were apparently no financial preparations at all," he said. "When the other commissioners decide they want to take the building down, I'll be ready. It's like beating a dead horse to talk about it. They all know how I feel."

Goss said he had reservations about selling the building, but out of respect for the mayor who is quite passionate about not tearing down the hospital, he deferred to his judgment.

"Our town is where it is today because of Mayor Butler," he said. "So I defer to his desires - to a point. We've given the buyer well over a month to fulfill his end of the deal. I'd say that if things don't happen fairly soon, we're going to have to consider demolition."

The city initially set an asking price of $1.2 million on the hospital building, but reduced the cost to $900,000 for Harrell provided that one acre of land at the site is sold to another investor.

Bids to demolish the building and remove the asbestos approached $500,000.

john.homan@thesouthern.com

351-5805