Akron OKs Tower Demolition
The Akron City Council on Monday approved the purchase and demolition of Canal Park Tower, the former downtown home of 169 seniors and residents with mental disabilities.
The tenants were relocated over the last year because the building's deterioration made it unsafe. The building was unique for its concentration of people with mental disabilities and the on-site meals and cleaning services it provided.
Some residents are suing the city in federal court over the demolition, arguing that the building should be rehabilitated. U.S. District Judge Peter Economus will decide Dec. 9 whether to temporarily prevent the building's demolition.
Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth told City Council committees Monday that the city has promised the judge the building won't be demolished before his hearing.
The demolition is expected to cost $406,000, but first the city has to buy the building from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its appraised value, $900,000.
HUD initiated foreclosure proceedings in 2004 because the structure's foundation had not been repaired.
Defendants in the lawsuit include the building owner (Akron Tower Housing Partnership and Anthony M. Rodriguez), HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, relocation contractor National Housing Group, Mayor Don Plusquellic and the city.
The suit contends that Plusquellic sought HUD's foreclosure on the property and got the owner -- whose debt would be forgiven -- to agree not to challenge that foreclosure.
Lieberth told City Council members Monday that aside from the debt forgiveness, the current owners will receive no benefit from the city's purchase of the building from HUD.
He said outside council chambers that it is possible that the city could be stuck with a $900,000 building it can't tear down if Economus rules in favor of the plaintiffs next month.
A 2002 independent engineering report noted significant deterioration of the parking garage that supports the building.
The report said the problem undermines the building's structural integrity. A moderate seismic event could lead to ``a progressive failure that would ultimately result in a catastrophic collapse of the apartment complex.''
The former 11-story Akron Tower Motor Inn sits just past center field of CanalPark stadium and Lock 2 Park. Opened in 1961, it was purchased by Tower Housing in 1975 and was converted into one of the country's first subsidized housing complexes.
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