Official Walk-Through of Portsmouth Town Center, aka Martings, Finds Dreaded Stigma

“To have people that understand about buildings talk to us about what’s going on with it and what is cosmetic verses structural (damage), that changes people’s options too,” (Jason) Kester said. “It’s kind of like if you or I would look at something and say ‘it’s awful,’ and someone that knows what they are doing looks at the same thing and says ‘it’s not that bad.'”

(Wayne Allen. "Officials tour Marting’s." http://portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/news/150763274/Officials-tour-Martings  Portsmouth Daily Times. December 04. 2014)

If you don't comprehend that quote, join this writer. The circular nature is disturbing. Still, it is part of the latest report of downtown improvement. 

The enthralling tale of the downtown empty structure saga continues ...

This week more than 20 people toured the Portsmouth Town Center (now the "official" euphemistic for the Martings' building) in a walk- through organized by Southern Ohio Port Authority Executive Director Jason Kester. 

The canvass included representatives from the city of Portsmouth, SOPA Board members, area architects, engineers, representatives from the Portsmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, members of the Marting’s Foundation, and reportedly "many others." (That would be as many as would qualify for more than 20 people.)

One of the first decisive findings of SOPA was interesting. The buildings owned by the taxpayers of the City of Portsmouth are still standing in some kind of guarded condition. No one can prove how serious the deterioration is, mind you, but I'll let Kester explain.

“Both buildings checked out, structurally. I do not have any scientific analysis of that, but the 'general thought' was that both buildings are solid and most of the damage is cosmetic,” Kester said.

In other words a "general thought" of someone in some authoritative position has affirmed something reassuring about the damage and the condition of the structures.

Kester said the buildings "appear solid," but he did not "rule out possible issues with electric, plumbing, other internal systems, and the external structure itself." Concerning the exterior, Kester also said something evidently needed to be done "to prevent bricks from coming loose" (evidently work to avoid some other nasty event like the sudden collapse this week of the building located at Court Street and Front Street).

Kester reported that "someone" will have to analyze the potential of each building to determine who could be a tenant on what floor, and he believed the "first task" in putting businesses in the structure to be something about finding an "end user."

(I had to look up this term. An end user is defined as "the ultimate user for whom something is designed." I might help them accomplishment this objective of determining an end user. I think that task of identification is actually inherent in the property itself. If I remember correctly, Martings was designed to serve as "a department store," pretty much now a retail relic of a once-busy downtown past.)

But enough with that aside, on the the tour ...

SOPA discussed retail, office, and residential possibilities for the property as tourists dodged the debris to view the site. But, Kester said the most important dynamic about developing the town center (Maybe it is so-named because it does sit vacant without clients in the "center" of "town.") is to provide "a fresh perspective to a building that’s been riddled with a negative stigma." (Why do I suddenly feel as if Kester is speaking of me?)

Eureka! The albatross around the neck of city council, the "stigma," rears its ugly head and refuses to die ...

It was suggested that citizens have to "get over" the long fiasco of owning and maintaining an unwanted, empty building and just forget about all the fuss and drama. Kester thinks citizens must ignore their affective aspects of consciousness. I'll let him explain:

“Everybody is just so negative about that building. I understand that, but at some point we’ve got to overcome our past and move on,” Kester said. “We need to do data-driven decision making, not emotion driven decision making.”

I think that means that the City must do some decision making based on factual information, such as measurements or statistics, used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation. Now, I'm not trying to be entirely pessimistic here (chuckle), but I must ask you how often does that "data-driven" thought process happen in City Hall?

I think citizens can only ask for so much since indications are that Portsmouth is somewhere up Bum Nugget Creek without a long-handled, broad flattened bladed wooden implement. I'm not sure what "drives" all the decisions at City Hall, but I'm pretty certain any inertia there that propels the rare decision is data indifferent and politically-inclined.

And, as the door to the Town Center finally came closed ...  

In a final inconclusive conclusion, Kester stated, “Maybe we can do something with it, maybe we can’t. We will not know until we start hammering out some ideas.” (And, in the background, the lyrics of an old tune covered by Trini Lopez tune played in my mind.)

"If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land;
I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out warning,
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land."

I hope someone has something more than a hand tool to put the ideas of SOPA into action. M.C. Stanley Kirk Burrell knows something about "Hammer Time" while rapping and dancing. Maybe SOPA should call him for some "untouchable" advice on how to defeat the stigma.

"Go with the flow in a spin 

If you can't move to this
Then you probably are dead
So wave your hands in the air
Bust through the moves 

Run your fingers through your hair
This is it for a winner"

 
Here is the wrap up of the walk-through just in case you need a thorough review: An old property with a new name still sits vacant in downtown Portsmouth. That may be all you need to know. 

But ...

Stay with me for further updates because Kester said he plans to follow-up in the "near future" with officials who took the tour to gather their thoughts about what they saw and what they may recommend. How definite can the plans be?