Directors support attempt to save Mallalieu facade

story by Luke Hobbs
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In a special meeting on Tuesday (Aug. 23), Fort Smith city directors approved a $135,000 contract in an attempt to save the facade of the former Mallalieu Methodist Church, which is already slated to be demolished.

The city acquired the church, located at 800 N. Ninth Street, in early 2000 with the plan to convert it into a multicultural center. However, the city was unable to afford the $800,000 initial renovation costs, and by 2007, costs to renovate and complete the project had soared to as much as $3.5 million. Soon after, the city moved to demolish the building, and received an estimate of $189,000 for the demolition work.

In May, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Chancellor Paul Beran revealed a more than $1 million plan to convert the property into the “Mallalieu Center for Academic Excellence.” Beran, along with Monte Wilson and Scott Hathaway, had asked the Fort Smith Board of Directors for $300,000 to demolish part of the old church building and secure the “landmark” facade.

In the last few weeks, the building’s condition has deteriorated quickly, forcing the board to act sooner than originally planned. In last Tuesday’s (Aug. 16) meeting, the board voted 6-1 to authorize the immediate demolition of the Mallalieu building, with the caveat that the demolition contractor must attempt to preserve the church’s south facade.

Tuesday’s special meeting was called in order to approve a contract with Crawford Construction Company for the emergency repairs and stabilization of the facade.

Hathaway told city directors the effort to preserve the facade has a good chance of success, although there are no guarantees. Hathaway said the contractor will likely know early in the process whether the facade can be saved; if it can’t, there will be no attempt to preserve it and the city will save the money it would have otherwise spent on that effort.

Wally Bailey, city planning director, told directors that the city’s contract with Crawford Construction will have a caveat that allows re-evaluation if the facade collapses before work begins.

City Director George Catsavis asked Hathaway whether the project could end up costing much more than the estimated $135,000. Hathaway said that it was possible, but that if the project goes over budget, it will probably be by only $5,000 or $6,000.

City Director Steve Tyler, who voted for preserving the facade last week, said he now felt it was best to demolish it along with the rest of the church.

“I appreciate the passion behind all [the effort to preserve the facade],” he said, “but there does have to come a time when you let things go.”

Tyler said he felt the money for preserving the facade would be better spent in other areas, such as raises for city employees or the construction of the Marshals Museum.

City Director Philip Merry Jr. disagreed, saying, “There are times when you’re looking at an expense, and times when you’re looking at an investment. This is an investment.”

Merry added that he hoped the city could find new efficiencies to cover the extra $135,000 the facade preservation will cost.

The board approved the contract in a 6-1 vote, with Tyler the lone ‘no’ vote.

Bailey said Crawford Construction hopes to begin making the emergency repairs on Thursday (Aug. 25). The money to pay for the project will come from the unobligated balance of the city’s general fund.

Directors informally agreed that they will wait 90 days before re-evaluating what to do with the Mallalieu property, in order to allow enough time for demolishing the building and preserving the facade.

SEWAGE SITES
In a study session, which immediately followed the special meeting, city directors listened to a presentation from Steve Parke, director of utilities, on potential sites for two new sewage tanks.

The tanks will connect to the pump station on Zero St., which the city staff recently identified as needing greater capacity in order to reduce overflows in wet weather.

Parke briefed directors on two potential sites the city could purchase: a 15-acre property on Jenny Lind Road, adjacent to the pump station, and a 5-acre property on Xavier St., across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Zero.

The Jenny Lind site was used as a zinc smelter operation in the 1940s, and the ash produced by that operation has contaminated the soils on the property, meaning the city would have to pay to remediate the soils. The Xavier site has no soil problems.

City staff leans toward purchasing the Xavier site because of its clean soil and because it is less expensive ($1.375 million compared to about $1.8 million for the Jenny Lind site).

But City Director Kevin Settle said he didn’t like the Xavier site because of its proximity to the Wal-Mart store, along with a small residential neighborhood on the north side and a new apartment complex on the east side.

City Directors Tyler and Pam Weber also said they liked the idea of purchasing a larger tract of land like the Jenny Lind site, part of which could later be used for soccer fields or a park.

The board directed Parke to gather further information on purchasing the Jenny Lind site and to present it in a future study session.