ASHTABULA — The owner of the old Carlisle building may be in prison, but he’s barring cars from his parking lot.
Gary Harris, formerly of Conneaut, is serving time in federal prison for tax evasion. In the meantime, the building and the parking lot are deteriorating, while area residents have been using the parking lot during parades, veterans memorial services and, on Sundays, for church services at the First Baptist Church.
On Thursday, two representatives for Harris contacted the Star Beacon to say Harris does not want people to park there.
“It’s a private parking lot,” said on representative, who didn’t want her name in the newspaper.
“Mr. Harris has not given his permission for anyone to park there.”
The building has become a huge eyesore in downtown Ashtabula, but from 2003 to 2007, the Civic Development Corp. of Ashtabula and the Ashtabula Port Authority worked together on a plan to buy, remodel and redevelop the building. The plan was to turn the property into an office complex for 10 or more nonprofit organizations. If successful, the plan would have brought 100 people to work downtown five days a week, revitalizing the area. Stuart Cordell, then-president of CDC’s board of trustees, said the whole package to develop the property would have come to more than $10 million.
Led by chairman Ron Kister, the Port Authority would have served as owner, manager of redevelopment and landlord. The idea caught on with the community, and in April 2005, KeyBank presented CDC with a $75,000 multiyear grant to help purchase the building.
In 2006, Port Authority officials met with Harris at an eminent-domain hearing held in Common Pleas Court. The meeting followed several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a sale price.
Harris worried about his belongings in the building, said Carmen “Lefty” Corbissero, Port Authority secretary.
Today, nearly six years after the initial evaluation of the Carlisle property, parts of the building’s roof have disintegrated, there are mold and vermin, and the freeze-thaw cycle has wreaked havoc with the building.
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Don’t park here
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