Alexander council meeting morphs into tour of property

(Edits are shown underlined.)

Their was expectations of a very short City of Alexander council meeting. With no minutes available of the previous meeting to review it was looking to be even shorter, albeit by about two minutes.

In his oral report to the city council, Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck told members the proposed new zoning ordinance has been sent to the city attorney for a legal review. Huck also said the commission is still waiting for the legal review of the new subdivision rules and regulations and the answer to two questions; all submitted to the attorney a few months ago. He added he has contacted someone at the Arkansas Municipal League looking for help, but has not had a response.

With all business on the agenda completed there was the expectation of an adjournment of the October 15 meeting, but Mayor Paul Mitchell had something else up his sleeve. Mitchell asked for a motion to “recess” so he can take council members on a tour of the recently acquired Human Development Center (HDC) property along Highway 111.

With a motion to recess made, seconded and approved we all toddled off in our respective vehicles to the HDC. Our first stop was the main building that resembles a hospital.

According to the Abandoned Arkansas website, the large brick building seen today was built in the late 1930s as a Works Progress Administration project. It was built as a tuberculosis treatment center for African-Americans. Eventually it was named “The McRae Memorial Tuberculosis Sanatorium for Negroes.”

As tuberculosis (TB) became a curable disease the need for sanatoriums dwindled. In 1968 the TB sanatorium in Alexander was converted into the Alexander Human Development Center. The Arkansas Department of Human Services was established to help individuals with developmental disabilities.

Before going into recess Mitchell said he had wanted to do this earlier in the summer but between full agendas and the heat there wasn’t a good time to do this. The tour began at the rear of the building on what would be considered the ground floor.

With the sun going down moving through the building required walking slowly and carefully. The floors felt as though you were walking on water-soaked carpet with a little mud thrown in as a bonus. It was slick. Eventually, I realized the muddy carpet was hung ceiling tile that became rain-soaked from the leaky roof and had fallen onto the floor.

The group took stairs up to the first floor. One of the first stops was a pair of open elevator shafts. As we walked from one end of the building to the other we could see a community kitchen, various sized empty rooms and lots of graffiti.

One of the council members asked about the intended future use of the four-story building. Mitchell said his goal is to first develop the open land into a shopping center. Then, with the additional sales tax revenue the city will be able to tear it down and develop that piece of the property. Recently local fire departments used it to practice fire fighting techniques.

Eventually everyone moved back to ground level and went onto the next, and last, building on the tour. When driving along Highway 111 you may notice a long metal building around 100 feet from the highway. In its heyday it served as a training area and a paper recycling center, including its own hydraulic press to form bales.

Currently known as Building-5, Mitchell says he would like to make it part of the parks department and turn it into a community center that can be rented for both small and large events. As you enter the front door there is a small room, which can be used for meetings. Behind that is a much larger area suitable for events such as wedding receptions.

He would also like to add a splash-pad outside and use the kitchen area to sell concessions. Installing a back-up generator would also allow the building to be used as a heating or cooling center when there’s a city-wide power outage during extreme weather.

The problem with all these plans is the lease with Pathfinders, Inc.. When the city agreed to take ownership of the property from Arkansas Human Development Services the state’s lease with Pathfinders went with the deal.

Pathfinders now provides the services the state once provided to the developmentally disabled. That service ended in 2011 after the state lost a lawsuit over conditions at the various Human Development Centers throughout the state.

The state turned over the program to Pathfinders which included being allowed to lease the Alexander property for $1 per year. In exchange Pathfinders is suppose to maintain the property and buildings, which also includes the driveway, parking lots and mowing the grass. Other than the grass Mitchell says Pathfinders is not living up to the lease. He wants to renegotiate the lease.

“They want to stop cutting the grass and they haven’t maintained the buildings,” he said. “I have them over a barrel.”

After the tour of Building-5 the meeting was called back into session in the small meeting room. The meeting was then adjourned.

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is November 19 at 6 PM in the courtroom in city hall. The public is invited to attend.