The old Wold Drug building in downtown Austin is a step closer to a new life.

Thursday, April 05, 2001

The old Wold Drug building in downtown Austin is a step closer to a new life.

The Austin City Council’s finance committee has sent a proposal to the council that an additional $40,000 be spent to remove temporary steel siding installed on the building’s facade as a temporary remedy to a unsightly exterior and the placement of a new store front with new framework, windows, doors and finishes.

The city started renovating the building in the fall of 2000. The costs of improvements are being paid with taxes generated by a tax increment financing district that includes Hormel Foods Corp.’s new Corportate Office South facility on Main Street North.

The city plans to sell the building later this month to a Missouri resident who wants to set up a used computer or appliance store on the main level and perhaps apartments or offices on the second story.

Seeing life in the old building will go far on the downtown corner. We hope the building’s new owner can help downtown Austin draw even more people.

While we agree with council members that this latest batch of spending should be the end, we all have great expectations for a renovated Wold Drug building. Downtown Austin is vibrant and a newly renovated building will shine.