Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required. There is no anticipated impact upon cost controls or the tax levy. Recommendations of the Committee would be integrated into the normal capital and operating budget processes, as appropriate.
Title
To establish the Garver Building Reuse Committee under the guidelines of the Procedures for the Disposal of Surplus City Real Property, and to appoint the Committee members.
Body
PREAMBLE
From 1906 through 1997, the Garver Feed Mill was a working industrial building and a significant landscape feature on the east side of Madison. The building was designated as eligible for listing on the National Register in 1992 and designated a local landmark in 1994.
In 1997, after a two-year fundraising campaign called The Garver Fund, Olbrich Botanical Society (OBS) acquired the Garver building and 5-acre property for$700,000. The City Parks Division also acquired the surrounding 17.8 acres north to Fair Oaks Avenue. OBS transferred ownership of the Garver property to the City with a deed restriction that the property be used as parkland, devoted primarily to botanical gardens. DNR Stewardship Funds were also used for both the City and OBS purchases, so DNR permission is required for any sale, transfer or conversion to non-park uses. In 2000, an updated Master Plan for the Olbrich Botanical Gardens was adopted by the Park Commission. The Plan proposed to preserve the building as part of expanded park and botanical garden facilities north of the railroad and bike path. The Master Plan allocated space for future parking, but proposed several measures to reduce the need for parking and keep the area as open space.
In 2001, a fire destroyed one portion of the Garver building, but 60,000 square feet remains for reuse. In 2004, the Olbrich Botanical Society commissioned a Historic Structure Report and adaptive reuse study. In accepting the Report from OBS in 2005, the Park Commission recommended that the building be declared surplus for the purpose of seeking a public-private partnership for adaptive reuse of the building. The Park Commission recommended that the reuse include some Gardens' storage and maintenance; that it also include some broadly-defined public space for uses that are compatible with the mission of Olbrich Botanical Gardens; and that the reuse should minimize the amount of parking and maximize the amount of open space on surrounding parkland.
The Park Commission action initiated the standard City procedure for the disposal of surplus property, with a Committee to be appointed by the Mayor. The Committee will be staffed by the Community and Economic Development Unit, with staff support from Parks and other agencies. The Committee will set its schedule of meetings, including opportunities for neighborhood and public input. The Committee will establish criteria for reuse of the property. A Council Resolution is required to approve those criteria. The Committee will prepare a Request for Proposals to solicit potential users, and select a proposal and user for the building. A Council Resolution is required to approve the selection.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Garver Building Reuse Committee is established under the guidelines of the Procedures for the Disposal of Surplus City Real Property,
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the following members are appointed to the committee by the Mayor: two Alderpersons from the two districts which include Olbrich Park, one additional Alderperson, one representative of the Mayor, one resident of the neighborhood, one representative of the Olbrich Botanical Society, and one Park Commissioner.