Plan for Watermark Tower

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Developers are trying to move forward with plans to renovate the Watermark Tower, but progress has been slow due to the recession, and the project’s immediate future might hinge on a decision by the Anniston City Council.

A resolution

that would have allowed the Anniston Water Works and Sewer Board to move forward with its plans to renovate the Watermark Tower on Noble Street stalled Tuesday at the council’s regular meeting. The resolution would have allowed the city to purchase the water board’s current building, on West 11th Street, for its appraised value of $360,000. But the council split on the issue and decided to wait until its next meeting.

“I have mixed emotions about it at this point,” said Mayor Gene Robinson. “It would be great to remove the ugliest eyesore in the county and for the water department to go into (the Watermark Tower) and work on that facade … (but) that is a significant amount of money at this time.”

Because his auto parts store is nearby and could be impacted from the development of the tower, Robinson said he may abstain from voting, but if he does weigh in, his decision could determine if the city purchases the property. Two council members, Ben Little and Herbert Palmore, are against the purchase, and two others John Spain and David Dawson support it.

“Once again we are trying to grow city government at a time when we don’t have the money to support what we already have … It’s just utterly ridiculous,” Little said. “I’m not saying we can not help the water board, I’m just saying this is not the way to do it.”

Little and others who oppose the purchase say the city has not identified a purpose for the building and should not make a major purchase during the recession. But proponents of the purchase say the closer the water board comes to renovating the tower, the sooner downtown development will be revitalized.

“Everybody uses that excuse,” Palmore said of the argument that the renovation would help spur development. “You got to do what is practical for the people and the city … it’s a bad time to make a big move now.”

The city is not the only potential buyer of the site. The federal government also is considering purchasing the water board’s building, and the block that it sits on, including City Hall. If it does, the site would be used for a new federal courthouse, but the block is just one of three potential locations in Anniston that could be used for the proposed courthouse.

Dawson and Councilman John Spain, who support purchasing the building, said the city needs to secure ownership of the property before a private developer purchases it.

“If we are able to land the federal courthouse in that location and someone else buys the property, we certainly would be in trouble because they might not want to release it, or they might want to release it at a much higher price,” Spain said.

Dawson said even if the city purchases the property, the water board would rent it from the city, maintain the building and pay for utilities there until the board was ready to move into the Watermark Tower.

Councilmember John Spain, who said he fully supported purchasing the property, also said the city has identified some possible uses for the building. Those possible uses might include using the building as a new police department or economic development center.

Also, Spain said, purchasing the property could help set off a chain of events that would attract industry and new business to Anniston.

“What Anniston is suffering from is belt-tightening, and you can certainly go around and look at our infrastructure and see that we are never going to make this city inviting to potential investors if we keep reducing infrastructure, and if we do not begin to reinvigorate this city,” Spain said. “I realize these are hard times, but sometimes you have to spend some money to make some money.”

If Robinson abstains from voting, a split decision from the remaining four council members would kill the measure, but the water board’s general manger, Jim Miller, said the project would progress even if the city does not purchase the building.

“The water works board is going to go forward with the 10-story building,” Miller said of the project. “We had to fish or cut bait on that a long time ago.”