The vacant car wash at 1140 N. Main St. soon will be coming down as Crown Point officials look to raze the building on the property that was donated to the city by an out-of-state owner.
Alex Kutanovski told the Board of Public Works and Safety the property is one of two in the city’s inventory officials want to sell and both are worth more without their current structures. He asked and received permission to obtain quotes to demolish the structures for a price not to exceed $7,500.
“The property is more valuable, it is more saleable with the car wash gone,” Kutanovski said.
The carwash is located next to the Rich Gas Station in the 1100 block of North Main Street on the outer edge of the Jewel Plaza. It has been vacant for some time. The city was approached by the owner, who is from Illinois, who wanted to donate the land to the city. When public works checked out the car wash they found it was not working properly.
A second parcel at 920 Merrillville Road at the southeast corner of Merrillville Road and Summit Street came into the city inventory during the right-of-way acquisition process for the traffic signal project at that intersection, Kutanovski said.
Once the signalization project that includes a four-way stop with traffic lights and turn lanes at that intersection is complete, he said the home on the lot will be too close to the street.
“There is a safety concern with the traffic so close,” Kutanovski said.
A home is currently on the parcel, which is zoned commercial. The city’s Redevelopment Commission will sell the properties and then used the revenues for new projects.
After the properties are razed the city will obtain appraisals for the lot and the Redevelopment Commission will be able to put them up for sale. Kutanovski said the hope for the carwash property is one of the adjacent property owners will want to use the site to expand their footprint.
Money from the sale of the two parcels will go to the RDC to help fund other redevelopment projects in the city.
Councilwoman Carol Drasga, R-5th, the council’s appointee to the RDC, said the board has not made a final decision what it would like to do with the parcels. If sold, the proceeds would return to the RDC but have not been earmarked for anything.
She said both sites were good locations and could serve a variety of purposes.
“I don’t know if we will sell them or use them for parking,” Drasga said.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
