NEWS

Old Daytona Beach police station could topple

City leaders looking at demolishing Nova Road station

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean
eileen.zaffiro-kean@news-jrnl.com
The old Daytona Beach Police Department, Tuesday March 20, 2018 empty since 2009 when the department moved to a new building on Valor Boulevard.  [News-Journal/David Tucker]

DAYTONA BEACH — For nearly 10 years, the complex of tan brick buildings on the corner of Nova Road and Orange Avenue has been sitting empty as it's waited for a new chapter.

From the early 1960s to 2009, the complex was the headquarters for the Daytona Beach Police Department. But since police located to a new state-of-the-art station at the corner of Mason Avenue and Williamson Boulevard nine years ago, nothing new has worked out for the 55-year-old buildings at 990 Orange Ave.

So now top city staffers want to level the 31,660-square-foot complex in hopes of jump-starting their decade-long effort to get new development on the high-visibility site a stone's throw from the bustling intersection with International Speedway Boulevard.

City commissioners will have the final say on whether the ailing structures come down. They'll take a vote on the demolition decision at their meeting Wednesday night.

City Commissioner Paula Reed, whose zone includes the old police department headquarters, is all for sending the aging complex into the history books.

"I'm glad it's coming down," Reed said. "I think it's going to help produce a resurgence in that area. I hope we can bring something to that property, eliminate blight and create jobs."

About six years ago, an appraisal valued the 20th century station at more than $300,000. Now Reed and others who live in the Midtown neighborhood around the shuttered buildings say there's rampant mold inside, but city spokeswoman Susan Cerbone said a survey of the structures done a year ago didn't indicate a mold problem.

"It's been used periodically for SWAT training," Cerbone said.

But Cerbone conceded the interior is suffering from being closed up and without air conditioning since February 2009.

"It’s pretty funky for sure," she said.

The early 2017 survey did turn up a minor amount of asbestos and lead paint, Cerbone said.

If city commissioners decide it's time for the buildings to come down, demolition could begin in about 30-45 days. The city has already disconnected the building's electric source.

The city solicited bids from companies interested in doing the demolition work. The low bidder was Samsula Waste Inc., a New Smyrna Beach-based company that offered to do the job for $99,500. Seven additional bids ranged from $148,000 to $539,000, according to city records.

Demolition should wrap up by September. The proposed contract with Samsula Waste, which commissioners will vote on Wednesday night, calls for liquidated damages if the contractor doesn't meet the completion deadline. The city could impose $100 daily fines for every day of unexcused delay under the contract.

The city's ultimate goal is to find a new use for the old police department property, as well as more city-owned property just south or Orange Avenue and on the vacant station's east side across Jean Street. "In the future, the city will market the site for redevelopment purposes," Cerbone said. "There is no timetable at the moment."

It will be at least the third time since 2009 the city has attempted to get a developer interested in the property and put the site on the tax rolls. Shortly after the old station closed down, the city invited developers to share their ideas for the vacant police department, but not a single reply came in.

In April 2012, when the economy had recovered somewhat, another request for proposals went out for developers interested in putting anything from new shops to offices on the city-owned land. At that point, a Jacksonville-based group looking at using the buildings for a private law school had already expressed a strong interest in the site. The law school developers were the only willing takers, and in August 2012 a committee of top city staffers recommended that City Manager Jim Chisholm try to negotiate a deal with the three business partners. The partners said they would tackle around $1 million worth of renovations. They wanted to lease the complex and possibly one day buy the property, which at the time had an appraised value of $302,000. But the idea fizzled. Many in the Midtown neighborhood are growing weary of lingering poverty and blight. There have been a few major improvements, including the Orange Avenue overhaul and the Midtown Cultural & Educational Center. But they want more.

Longtime Midtown resident Johnnie Ponder is among the weary who have fought for change with few results. She said tearing down the old police department is "a great idea."

"That's the only way we're going to be able to do anything with that property," Ponder said. "It should have come down a long time ago. It could be a restaurant, a lot of different things." Reed is excited for the upcoming consultant seminars dubbed Midtown Emerging. It will be a four-session crash course in community development open only to Midtown residents and business owners. The seven-hour skill training sessions will be held every Saturday from April 7 to May 5 at the Dickerson Community Center. A flyer for the event proclaims, "You can help revitalize your community!"

"Are there things you want to see happening in Midtown Daytona Beach?" the flyer asks. "Shops and restaurants? Green grocers and bakeries? Mini parks and playgrounds? Fitness and personal care centers? Neighborhood-based doctors, dentists and lawyers? Safer streets with improved parking? And more?"

The crash courses aim to show participants how they can work with others to bring new life to Midtown neighborhoods, and improve both housing and businesses.

Reed sees possibilities for a property on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard that was going to become student housing for Bethune-Cookman University, but is now tied up in court. The city is still pushing forward with plans to add parking and a retention pond near the student housing site, so the property could be attractive for another use if necessary.

Some city leaders are looking at putting new housing for the homeless on a vacant property next to the Midtown Cultural & Educational Center, which Ponder opposes but Reed said could also be a plus.

"I would welcome something there," Reed said. "It could bring a ray of light and hope."

There's also a consultant-led effort to get a grocery store in Midtown. With the police department property opening up, and the larger city-owned property to the south that until recently had a Department of Motor Vehicles building on it, Reed sees big possibilities.

"There's a gamut of opportunities," she said. "What's really great is we already own it. Let's do something."