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...
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