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Downtown Tarpon Building Facing Uncertain Future

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: November 3, 2007

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - While it has won a temporary reprieve, things don't look good for the more than 90-plus-year-old building at 144 E. Tarpon Ave.

Over the last 30 years the two-story building, the onetime home of People's Hardware, has fallen into such disrepair that structural experts recently recommend it be demolished.

Tuesday night, the City Commission voted to bar demolition of the building for up to six months.

Commissioners, however, wanted to know how a building that has been a downtown fixture was allowed to lapse into a nearly derelict state.

Toni Forbes, the daughter of Frank Forbes, who owns the building and operates Forbes Furniture there, told city Commissioners the building is so structurally unsafe it should be demolished.

An inspection of the building by Bracken Engineering of Tampa paid for by the Forbes family, discovered cracks or other forms of deterioration in the building's walls, framing and roof, rendering it unsafe.

Because of the findings of the engineering inspection, the building "must either be repaired or demolished," Renea Vincent, planning and zoning director, wrote in a recent memo to commissioners.

Based on the engineers' recommendation, Toni Forbes said the family applied for permission to demolish the building.

Commissioner Peter Dalacos asked Forbes how her father could have let the building deteriorate over the 30-years it was in his care.

In response, she said her father was out of town and the rest of the family was, until recently, unaware of the building's rundown condition.

The condition of the building could be considered "gross negligence on the part of the property owner," Dalacos said.

In support of that assertion, Dalacos cited the Bracken Engineering report. It attributes the deterioration of the building's interior structure to prolonged exposure to the elements.

Mayor Beverley Billiris said the property should never have been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that it now faces demolition.

Former Commissioner John Tarapani, an historic preservationist and downtown property owner, said demolishing the Forbes-owned building would create a gaping hole in the quaint Tarpon Avenue ambiance.

Tarapani asked city commissioners to imagine how many years it would be before anyone rebuilds at 144 E. Tarpon Ave. if the building were razed. Would it remain a vacant lot for the next 50 years? he wondered.

A gaping hole in the middle of downtown would be what city staff doesn't want to see at the site, Vincent said.

The problem is restoration of the structure would likely not be cost-effective for the current owners, said Joseph DiPasqua, development services director. Perhaps the building could be sold to someone who could afford to repair and restore it, DiPasqua speculated.

Vincent told commissioners staff endorsed taking emergency action to remove demolition as an option for dealing with the Forbes building for up to six months. The moratorium would give the city the time to consider designating it "contributing structure."

The term contributing structure is applied to a building with historical significance worthy of preservation. The Forbes building is considered noncontributing because of significant alterations to its exterior.

If the building were to remain noncontributing, it could be torn down and the building constructed to replace it would not have to conform to the city's historic preservation guidelines.

In her memo to commissioners, Vincent wrote she and Kathleen Monahan, the cultural and civic services director, believe there is sufficient historical evidence to justify classifying the Forbes building as contributing.

The city could then require the building be restored to something closer to its original condition, they wrote.

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