Valerie MyersErie Times-News
Two of the West Eighth Street properties purchased by the Millcreek Township General Authority this spring will have a new use, at least for a time.
Local residents are fighting to preserve a third property purchased by the General Authority in its Presque Isle Gateway District on West Eighth Street.
In January: Millcreek Township General Authority to buy Bel-Aire, Joe Root's Grill, Sandbar and more West Eighth parcels
The authority expects to finalize the sale of two more West Eighth Street properties in June.
The authority bought the properties to demolish the buildings and offer the lots for redevelopment. But no demolition dates have been set and no final decisions have been made, authority members said.
Emergency training to be conducted in former hotel, restaurant
Millcreek police and volunteer fire departments will use the former Bel-Aire Hotel, at 2800 W. Eighth St., and Joe Root's Grill, at 2832 W. Eighth St., for emergency services training. Millcreek Township General Authority approved the request earlier this month.
"I was a little hesitant when I first heard about the training, since it can be pretty destructive to structures, with windows being broken, doors being broken and more," said Jim Bock, chairman of the Millcreek Township Board of Supervisors and a member of the Millcreek Township General Authority. "And nothing has been decided about whether the buildings will be knocked down or rehabbed."
Authority members were assured that the training sessions will not damage the buildings, Bock said, and voted unanimously to allow training in the buildings until a date to be determined.
Police most likely will conduct SWAT and search training in the buildings, said Bock, a former Pennsylvania State Police trooper.
Eighth Street property purchases: Millcreek residents question transparency, costs
"They could do searches for someone hiding in the buildings, especially the Bel-Aire because it's so large and has so many rooms. It would be a good training tool for police," Bock said. "Fire departments might be able to do something similar to search for someone trapped or to go in and navigate stretchers on the stairs and in the hallways."
The Erie Bureau of Police and Pennsylvania State Police have also expressed interest in conducting training exercises in the buildings, Millcreek Supervisor and General Authority member Dan Ouellet said.
Push to preserve former Grasshopper shop
A third property purchased by the authority this spring, the former Grasshopper shop at 2818 W. Eighth St., was a schoolhouse on farm property as early as 1865 and should be saved, according to a group of residents who have petitioned the General Authority to preserve it.
The authority should study documentation the group has gathered about the building and whether the building can be restored, residents told Millcreek Township General Authority members in May.
Opinion column: Please improve Millcreek's peninsula Gateway, and preserve historic school
"I support the redevelopment and improvement of the West Eighth Street corridor," Jackie Garnon, a retired teacher, told General Authority members. "But a one-room schoolhouse should not be demolished."
The building is not blighted and could be restored to celebrate local history, Garnon said.
"The heritage of a place is what sets it apart from all other places," she said.
Carol Blake asked authority members to schedule public meetings about the building's future.
"If this (West Eighth Street) project is to encourage public support across the board, then you need to be informing the public and answering legitimate questions," Blake said.
No decision has been made about the property, General Authority Chairman Dave Zimmer said.
"We have made no decision in terms of what we're doing yet. We have acquired the properties. And I can tell you that I myself am still in the investigation phase to determine what really is there, what is historical and what is not," Zimmer said.
Zimmer said that he has spoken to the Erie County Historical Society about the property and its history is not clear.
"It isn't quite as simple as some of the pictures and things like that," Zimmer said.
Tentative closing dates set for 2 more properties
The General Authority expects to finalize its purchase of the Manor Motel, at 2819 W. Eighth St., and the Sandbar Draft House & Grille, at 2836 W. Eighth St., in June.
This spring: Manor Motel residents look for new homes before sale to Millcreek Township is finalized
Long-term Manor Motel residents have found new homes. The motel will sell furniture, televisions, refrigerators and other property in a liquidation sale June 8-10.
The tentative sale closing date for the property is June 15.
The sale closing for the Sandbar Draft House & Grille is tentatively scheduled for June 30.
Total purchase price for the five West Eighth Street properties is nearly $7.2 million. The General Authority will use proceeds from the 2015 sale of the Millcreek Township Water Authority to Erie Water Works to cover most of the cost.
The Water Authority sale netted the township a lump-sum payment of $12 million plus $1 million payments annually for 10 years. The money is invested in a fund to cover capital project costs.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.
