October 23rd, 2014 by WCBC Radio
A significant hurdle, or perhaps a road block has developed in the effort to see private sector development revitalize the Footer Dye Works building at Canal Place- and it comes with a two million dollar price tag. WCBC News has learned that an additional $1.5 to $2 million dollars may be necessary for the proposal of Michael Joy Development to come to fruition. $1.5 million may be required to restore the Footer building windows to their original state. An additional half million will be needed for pigeon remediation; parking lot and infrastructure upgrades and the possible purchase of the Air Con Engineering building adjacent to Canal Place. The million dollar question is: where does the additional money come from. Officials with the city and county are on record as saying no additional dollars on the local level will be made available while there are strong indications the developer cannot come up with funds to fill the gap. Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority executive director Dee Dee Ritchie tells WCBC News that the hope is the state will provide the additional funds. If that fails, grant funding is a possibility. She emphasized that she doesn’t view this setback as a deal breaker with Joy Development:
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