Foundation, city working on future of SotC Park

Interim City Administrator Jim Ferguson has a few ideas on how to improve the appearance of the Standin' on the Corner Park. But they all include community cooperation.

"My initial contacts with the property owners have been very positive," he said. "It's important that we all work together on this. There's certain steps the city can take but there's other steps that we'll ask for help from the business community and the Foundation and the property owners."

For starters, Ferguson said the city would place a lien on the former J.C. Penney/Rasco building, which remains much as it did after the Oct. 18, 2004 fire that destroyed it. Ferguson said that action might spur the insurance companies to settle more quickly with the owners so cleanup could begin.

"I told (owner) Jim (Steagall) we've got to do what we can to protect the public safety. We will in fact put a lien on the property for any expenses incurred and he said that's fine," Ferguson said.

The city has already stepped in to ensure the fence will remain. The owner of the fence was unhappy with the arrangement with Steagall and wanted to retrieve the fence, according to Ferguson. Ferguson said the city is paying the monthly rental fee of $100.

"What the city is doing is just a short-term thing just to make sure that doesn't come down. And we can work out something with the property owners," he said. "While we will lien it and get that money back, I'd prefer not having to do that."

Ferguson said he doesn't expect the insurance issues to be resolved immediately. After working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on cleanup from Hurricane Ivan, which struck the Florida panhandle in September, he's seen first hand that insurance companies move at their own pace.

He said that since there are two insurance companies involved ‹ the property owners' and the contractor's ‹ the delay in payments is not unusual.

"It's more of what I would call unfortunate," he said. "Each situation is a little different. I saw property owners who received their checks from their insurance companies within 30 days, full amount that they were insured forŠ and their neighbor's getting nothing. The reason is the complications of how they were insured."

Standin' on the Corner Foundation president Glenn Howeth said he's hoping to make the statue available for pictures even if visitors cannot stand next to it.

"I'm checking on the fencing to see if we can put a hole in it so people can stick a camera through or maybe drop one piece of it down to 5-foot or something. But I have to work with the city with that," he said.

Several months ago, the Foundation sent a letter to the owners of building, Steagall and Kate Whitty, but Howeth said they haven't heard a response. Steagall and Whitty were not available to speak with the Winslow Mail by presstime.

"We've never heard a response," Howeth said. "So we don't know what's going on. All we know is the wall needs to be shored.

"What the people in town need to know is, the Park belongs to the city. The mural belongs to us (the Foundation). We maintain everything to a certain extent. The wall belongs to Jim (Steagall). We're at a standstill. The Foundation can not do anything until we know what we can do."

Howeth added that City Attorney Dale Patton approved of allowing city workers to clean out the weeds in the gardens and add new plants.

"We paid for about $345 worth of plants that had to be put in thereŠ about a week ago or so. The Park is back to looking nice," Howeth said. "It's not Jim and Kate's fault, it's not that it's the city's (fault) not that it's oursŠ it just has to be done. It's not a blame thing. It's a let's get it fixed thing."

Before anything can be fixed up, an environmental assessment must be performed by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Cleaning crews would need to know what types of hazards they would be facing. The first hazard to be addressed is the stability of the remaining walls.

Ferguson said an engineer's report shows that the concrete slab is half the thickness it needs to be for adequate support of the east and west walls. A more secure base is necessary for public safety. The report also shows that water in the basement could weaken the foundation. Until an environmental assessment is done, Ferguson said the city would most likely not be involved with the cleanup due to liability.

"I'm not sure the city really wants to be involved in the actual cleanup because of a lot of the ramifications. I'm not saying we wouldn't. But at this time there's too many questions as to what the ramifications would be," he said.

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