By a vote of 2-1, local resident Knowles Dougherty’s dream of renovating the Wold Drug Store to house both the Welcome Center and a shop selling Latin American crafts went down in favor of Missouri businessman Steve Swain’s more profitable and practical proposal of selling appliances and electronics on the site.

Thursday, October 05, 2000

By a vote of 2-1, local resident Knowles Dougherty’s dream of renovating the Wold Drug Store to house both the Welcome Center and a shop selling Latin American crafts went down in favor of Missouri businessman Steve Swain’s more profitable and practical proposal of selling appliances and electronics on the site.

Known in the community as a sort of Renaissance man, Dougherty recently closed his publishing business a few doors down from the Wold building. He said he’d been considering the Wold building for some time.

Swain, although located in Lebanon, Mo., has similar businesses in Owatonna and Rochester. He also has experience with renovating old buildings and has his offices in such a building. Council finance committee members Dick Chaffee and Dick Lang supported the proposal from Swain, represented in Austin by real estate agent Bob Hart, for a number of reasons.

One of those was the fact that Dougherty’s IDEA Inc. corporation is non-profit and, therefore, tax exempt, although Dougherty had stated that IDEA Inc. would be willing to pay the city in lieu of taxes.

Another was the difference in actual payment to the city: Dougherty offered $1, Swain offered $40,000 cash up front and $25,000 more to be paid over 10 years.

"I thought 50 cents was too low," Dougherty said with a smile. He pointed out that the building would be worth only about $80,000 even after it’s fixed up, so he would rather spend his money improving the building than paying the city.

Dougherty said this morning he intends to continue pursuing the building because his proposed use "is better for the city as a whole."

Swain, speaking from Missouri on Tuesday, said he had been impressed with Austin’s downtown on a visit here.

"It’s obvious the people take pride in the city and it’s a place I think we’d like to do business," he said.

It also was obvious most of the city staff and council members in the conference room thought Swain’s proposal was the better one. While none of the council members at Thursday’s finance committee meeting spoke badly of Dougherty’s proposal, both Lang and Chaffee, as well as city administrator Pat McGarvey, focused on the fact that Swain was willing to reimburse the city for some of its $130,000 investment in the historical building.

"It comes down to the question of how much you want to get for your $130,000 investment," McGarvey said. "One dollar or $65,000."

Jeanne Poppe was the lone vote in favor of Dougherty. She said the fact that Dougherty was a local businessman with a reputation here and a stake in the city was part of her reasoning. She also liked his ideas for developing the site better.

"I think if the Welcome Center were to locate there, that supersedes the $1 offer," the finance chairwoman said. "It’s an appropriate location for the center and a good use of the building."

While the amount the city would get up front for the historical building weighed heavily in Swain’s favor, the amount each said he would invest in the building after acquiring it was far more from Dougherty. Dougherty thought $80,000 would be needed, plus another $40,000 to $60,000 in labor, to make the building into two upstairs apartments and two downstairs businesses, plus additional exterior work on the east wall of the building. Swain estimated he’d need an additional $10,000 on the exterior and $25,000 on the interior plus the $65,000 for the building.

The decision by the finance committee is not final; now the issue goes to the council with a recommendation that they take Swain’s proposal over Dougherty’s. In order for the city to sell property, it will take a unanimous vote.

Poppe said she would not vote against the other council members at the Oct. 16 meeting and that she had made her point at the finance committee meeting.