By fits and starts, the city of Starkville is proceeding with its plans to purchase the Cadence Bank Building with the idea of making the building the new home of the city’s police department.
During Tuesday’s board of aldermen meeting, city leaders approved listing the building currently home to both city hall and the police department while directing Mayor Parker Wiseman, Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins and Ward 3 Alderman David Little to come up with an offer on the Cadence property, which has an appraised value of $3.15 million.
None of the actions taken by the city to this point are irreversible, which is a comfort, considering that there are far more questions about the wisdom of this move than answers to support it.
Retrofitting an existing building for use as a police department is no small undertaking, though it’s not unheard of. Columbus’ police department is housed in what was a Kroger grocery.
Retrofitting the Cadence building could cost between $1 million and $3 million.
But even without those costs, the city probably doesn’t have the money to buy the bank building.
Originally, the city planned to keep the police department at its current location after city offices moved to the site of the old Starkville Electric Department building, now under renovation. It had set aside $1.3 million for renovations of the building the city and police currently occupy.
Then, the Cadence bank building went on the market and some city leaders were instantly taken with the idea.
On one level, it makes a certain amount of sense. The current city hall is appraised at roughly $800,000. Putting $1.3 million in renovating a building worth half that amount might be considered spending good money after bad.
Why not, instead, use that $1.3 million toward the purchase of Cadence?
Well, there is the unpleasant matter of financing.
There is no guarantee the city will find a buyer for its current city hall/police department anytime soon or for anything approaching its appraised value. Because it is an historic structure, modifications to the building could be problematic and that only further discourages prospective buyers.
As Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver correctly noted, the financing is fuzzy to the point that it would be reckless to proceed.
One possible way to help fund the purchase and retrofitting being floated is the possibility of renting out the ground floor of the three-floor building, but the city should be very careful in considering this approach. It is virtually unheard of for a police department to share space with a private business and the implications for disaster — and enormous liability to the city — should not be lightly dismissed.
It may be the Cadence building, while available, simply isn’t a viable option for a variety of reasons.
In fact, it might make far more sense to consider a “Plan C” that involves finding another location for the police department that better jibes with its bank account.
It is not wise to shop for a Ferrari on a Ford budget.
We recommend Starkville tap the brakes on this plan. There are still far too many important questions yet unanswered.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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