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April 3, 2009

Downtown construction gets under way

By Debby Woodin

news@joplinglobe.com

The importance of state historic tax credits to downtown Joplin’s continued restoration was a topic that surfaced Friday in a ceremony celebrating the start of construction at the Gryphon Building.

Representatives of the city of Joplin, state legislators, members of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce and others were on hand to mark the day with developers and owners of the building. It was formerly known as the Interstate Grocery Association or Bagcraft building at 1027 S. Main St.

Though some work to stop deterioration of the walls and windows had been done in the past few months, actual restoration began Wednesday.

“This is a historic day in a historic downtown and we’re glad to be a part of it,” said one of the developers and owners, Paul Whitehill. He thanked all those agencies for their assistance in the two-year effort it has taken to get to the construction phase.

He also said he had heard support for the project from residents, whom he thanked. “We have had so much support from the city (residents) and we hope to make you very proud of downtown Joplin,” he said.

Construction of what is now to be called the Gryphon Building started in 1913 and ended in 1915. It was originally built as a five-story office and warehouse for IGA and later housed various tenants.

Whitehill recognized the city’s assistance and that of state Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, as well as that of other state officials and agencies who helped work toward historic recognition of the building and the award of tax credits and other public assistance to help pay for the cleanup and reconstruction.

City Manager Mark Rohr told the audience that the city appreciates the investors in the project who are willing to take a risk on a project such as the Gryphon. He also cited state historic tax credits as an important building block in such projects and said, “We’d like to perpetuate that funding.”

That was a reference to an effort in the state legislature to limit the availability of tax credits.

“This is an excellent project that is going to help the momentum of downtown,” he said.

Nodler, whose father once had an office in the building, commended the restoration, saying, “This is a classic example of the public/private partnership we hear so much about.”

He said he is a supporter of tax credit programs with limitations.

The state has all kinds of tax credit programs other than those for historic renovations. Nodler said many have no limit and no accountability or oversight, which allows some people to take unrestricted amounts from the state treasury. He said that practice is not good public policy and “we do need to look at the programs.”



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