Nov. 22—The days of Al’s Grocery appear to be numbered unless the owner and others can save the historic Northwest Decatur building within the next month.
The Decatur City Council voted Monday to demolish the historic building at 425 Vine St. NW, with a caveat added by Councilman Billy Jackson to his motion for demolition.
Jackson asked Community Development to give owner Al Robinson at least 30 days to find a solution that could save the building “which is an icon in this community.”
“It means so much to people from a historical perspective. The hardest thing for me to do is to make this motion,” he said.
He admitted the city has been more than patient with Robinson, but said he is sticking to his word and filing a motion to move forward with the demolition.
The city has been pressuring Robinson to make improvements since a car crashed into the building in 2009. The city recently gave the owner another 90-day reprieve, but Chief Code Enforcement Officer Josh Sloan said Robinson did not respond to the city’s inquiries during that period. period until appearing at Monday’s meeting.
On Monday, Robinson appeared to accept the building’s possible fate.
“The decision that needs to be made for the buildings is bigger than me,” Robinson told the council. “I’ve tried and prayed, but that building is in God’s hands.”
He said he had to “get off my phone” because of the number of calls he was receiving about the building.
“Some wanted to buy,” Robinson said. “Some had different needs.”
He added that one of his biggest concerns is where the money would come from if he were to make a deal with a potential partner or buyer.
“The decision is too big for me. It’s in the hands of some council members and God, who is going to make the best decision for that country,” Robinson said.
He said Thursday he’s still hopeful, but he’s not ready to say what options he has.
“I’ll think of something I’ll take back to them and see what happens,” Robinson said.
Robinson said he appreciates the patience city officials have shown with him as he tries to save the building.
Jackson said the “unfortunate reality” now is that Robinson must sell it or the building will be demolished. He believes there are people who want to save it.
He said he has received inquiries from legitimate business people interested in purchasing the building.
“I think there’s opportunity here,” Jackson said. “I don’t think he’ll have any problem saving it. There’s enough interest in that building from people who live in that community and want to see the store saved and still want it to be an important part of this community.” .”
Jackson said two of the ideas he heard include turning it into a community grocery store or a restaurant.
He said a friend, a Texas businessman who grew up on Cherry Street Northwest, inquired about the old store because he was interested in possibly coming back home.
“His interest was because the store was such an important part of his childhood,” Jackson said. “He just wants the store to remain a valuable part of the community, and he is willing to invest in the store to essentially save it.”
Jackson said it’s possible the city could take it over, as it did when it bought the L&N train depot and turned it into a museum and city offices. He said he’s not sure how the city will do this. He also doesn’t think the city should enter into a real estate transaction.
“I’m not sure how we can do this from a historical perspective,” Jackson said. “If there is, I would like to make that situation work.”
Councilors Kyle Pike and Carlton McMasters said they appreciate Jackson keeping his promise to table the demolition motion, while they had no other final option Monday.
“I respect him for doing that, because I know it wasn’t easy,” Pike said. ‘We want to work with people, but something has to be done. I know that Mr. Jackson is in a last-ditch effort to transfer the building to someone who can afford to do something with the building.”
McMasters and Pike said the rest of the council was simply following Jackson’s lead on the building and how to move forward with its fate.
Frank Namie Sr. built the store in the late 1920s. The Decatur Daily reported that a fire destroyed the building on December 14, 1963, but the story says that Frank Namie Jr. said he planned to rebuild it.
Al’s Grocery was one of the businesses that survived the urban renewal project in the 1970s.
Robinson, 78, bought the store about 30 years ago and his wife ran the business. He retired from the Champion paper mill in 2000.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432
