Another Downtown Demolition on the Horizon

Vol. III, No. 150 - City Council may grant Community Improvement Corporation permission to purchase a duplex on South Cherry Street

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The measure of a strong local government isn’t just what it accomplishes—it’s also what it prevents. The best communities see problems coming and take calm, steady steps before those problems become full-born crises. The ones that don’t often repeat their mistakes, sometimes for years. That’s why residents need to pay attention and understand what’s at stake when new issues move toward the horizon.

Like a sailor watching dark clouds form at sea, we may be seeing the first signs of another storm building in Troy.

Tonight, City Council’s Finance Committee will discuss a resolution that would give the City’s Community Improvement Corporation $125,000 to buy a downtown property. Back in 2020, the City loaned money to the CIC to buy vacant land off Experiment Farm Road. The CIC, in turn, lent that money to the Troy Development Council. Now that the TDC has repaid the loan, the funds are available again—but with strings attached. Any new use of that money needs City Council’s approval.

The current plan is to use the funds to purchase 19 South Cherry Street, a residential duplex next to the Elks building. Council’s Finance Committee is expected to consider a resolution that would allow the CIC to move forward with the purchase. During the discussion, city staff also hinted at broader plans for the site.

The real question is what happens next. When it comes to downtown redevelopment, some leaders in Troy have a playbook: tear down an old building, plant grass, and wait for someone new to show up with an idea. That approach may look tidy for a while, but it often leaves the community with empty green lots instead of new energy.

City code already says that any demolition request must come with a “detailed reuse plan.” After the IOOF Building controversy, residents learned how tricky that phrase can be. Is a grassy lot really a “reuse plan”? It’s one of the critical issues that this city grappled with during the IOOF Building debacle and one that never gained a great deal of clarity.

That lesson still matters. Troy shouldn’t ban all demolitions, but we also shouldn’t approve them blindly. Taking a building down should be a last resort—something done only when there’s a real plan in place to build something better. A patch of grass might be easier on the eyes, but it doesn’t help a downtown grow stronger or more alive.

City officials have said the Cherry Street property is in poor condition. That may be true, but it raises larger questions. If this building is falling apart, how many others are in similar shape? Does the city even have a clear system to track that? Our community would be better served by knowing which buildings are empty, unsafe, or at risk before they reach the point of no return.

That’s why this publication has long supported adopting a vacant property registration ordinance for commercial and industrial buildings. Vacant structures can become liabilities, but they can also become opportunities—if the city knows who owns them and holds those owners responsible for keeping them secure and safe. This kind of information helps the city guide redevelopment in a smarter, more deliberate way.

Knocking down buildings without a clear plan doesn’t make Troy stronger. It only leaves us with more gaps in our city’s fabric. City Council and the Planning Commission would do well to remember that before approving another demolition that leads nowhere.

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