The Madison Elks building: “Git ‘er done!”

Maybe we need to invite Larry the Cable Guy to Madison to see what he could do about the Elks building impasse, which is nearing its sixth anniversary with no solution in sight.

After all, Larry is always telling people to “Git ‘er done!” Around here, our motto seems to be more like, “Git ‘er debated about — forever!”

Now, I’m not going to rag on our elected officials about this like so many who post on another local website do. I know these officials, and I think they all have what they view as best for the community at heart. And I’m not going to make the local preservationists the “villains of the piece,” either, because I think they sincerely want to preserve historically important buildings (in their view) in our beautiful river city, which had its 200th birthday three years ago.

This whole fiasco, which began when the Elks building burned due to arson in August 2006, is traceable to good intentions wedded to inadequate caution when dealing with those with whom locals were not acquainted. President Ronald Reagan once said, “Trust, but verify.”  Well, we trusted too much, and verified too little. After the Madison Elks Lodge had collected about $39,000 in donations from local citizens, in the expectation that it would restore the building, it then decided not to tackle that. Then along came Carolyn Barr, with great ideas for restoring the ruins of the Elks building (how many of those out-of-towners have we seen over the years, who were going to come to Madison and work miracles? How many actually have?)

The solution seemed too good to be true: A livesaver from somewhere else, who would bring contractors in and save the facade (all that was left, really) of a supposedly historic Madison building. All for a deeding over of the property, and a handing over of the $39,000. Hey, sounded like a great idea, didn’t it? Can’t beat those out-of-towners for stepping in and saving our bacon, just in the nick of time!

Except, as we all know, Ms. Barr didn’t pan out as she’d been advertised. After numerous false starts, excuses, second chances, promises, etc., during the past three and one-half years since the deal was closed, the ruins still stand there, staring us in the face like those of the Acropolis in Athens. Yes, Barr did manage — recently — to get a crew in there to put a roof on the ruins, which the current president of the preservationist group Cornerstone assured the city council at its last meeting will eliminate any possibility of the decaying brick walls collapsing outward and possibly squashing a Madisonian or two. Maybe all the members of the group would like to line up in front of the walls and jump up and down to show us how sturdy and safe they are.

So, here we stand, on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the fire which destroyed the Elks, still staring at the decaying hulk of the building. Cornerstone and other preservationists insist it can be saved and rebuilt. Residents and business people of the neighborhood would love to just see it torn down because they’re sick of seeing it, and because they believe it not only lowers their property values but also poses physical danger to passers-by.

A group of developers wanted to turn the Elks into apartments; then backed off; then entered into negotiations with Cornerstone, the details of which are being kept under wraps. I suppose that means the city can once again take a cold tater and wait.

This started under the Al Huntington administration; extended through the Tim Armstrong administration; and is now continuing under the Damon Welch administration. All good men; I know all three personally. I really believe they tried to get this project going, to get it through to some kind of fruition. But so far, they’ve failed. And I believe that, until someone in a position to do something, says, “That’s it! We’re not waiting any longer; here’s what we’re going to do;” that is, until someone is willing to “pull the trigger,” then this impasse will just drag on, and on, and on …

This is not the first time things like this have happened in Madison in the past 30-odd years. Remember how developers were going to put hotels, restaurants, yadda, yadda, into the cotton mill building near the bridge? It’s still deserted, and almost certainly deteriorating. Remember how the elders among us have recalled that when the new hill road (421 hill, for those of you who didn’t grow up here) was built in the 1960s, plans were for a new bridge to someday link up with it at Jefferson Street? It never happened; they’re remaking the old bridge, which has horrible approaches on both ends.

Why didn’t the NEW bridge ever happen? Mainly because we Madisonians couldn’t agree where it should be.  The Jefferson Street route was the most logical — but preservationists insisted that three or four old houses along Jefferson near the river must not be touched, and downtown merchants protested that it would lead people straight up to the hilltop, and they wouldn’t shop downtown anymore. It could have gone east of the existing bridge, up the hillside — but others complained that this would only further enrich certain already-wealthy landowners who would have to be bought out.

There was a time when Madison got things done — I mean major things, like the new hill road, the cleaning up of Vaughn Drive back in the 1950s, the building of the power plant in the same decade. Now, it seems that when opportunity beckons, we can’t decide what to do about it until she turns to another, less reluctant suitor. Or we plunge in without adequate investigation of opportunity’s bona fides, and wind up with egg on our faces. Or we listen to bad advice from the local newspaper and the gentlemen of the cloth, and turn down something which could have provided a bunch of good jobs for the community. Exhibit A: Jefferson County’s rejection of a riverboat gambling operation in a 1994 referendum.

Anyone have Larry’s phone number, or e-mail address? Maybe he could “git ‘er done!”