Seven bite-size Lemmon Drops to nibble on waiting for the recent flare-up in 9/11 finger-pointing to subside:
Actually, I'm just the middleman loyal reader Harvey, whose job takes him past the site (along Smead Avenue, between Dorr and Bancroft streets) most days, described the mammoth eyesore in an e-mail.
"It has undergone at least three attempts at demolition over the last 15 years," he said. "Each attempt consists of a week or two of full-scale activity, and then nothing. Now we have littered landscape with the highlight being a partial building with no wall on the residential side, leaving the second-floor men's room exposed. It has been like that for years, really.
"Imagine people enjoying a day in the yard with their family looking at that."
In fairness to Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, the spirit of his "results" pledge from the 2005 campaign would not include something this big. It's going to take the help of state and federal taxpayers, in the form of grants, to get the site ready for its next life.
In 2005, the city applied for a $1.9 million state environmental cleanup grant.
"There were 10 recipients," said E. Michelle Mickens, executive director of the Toledo Community Development Corp., "and we were No. 11."
Her organization is a partner with the Ottawa Community Development Corp. in a proposal to redevelop the site.
On Oct. 16, they're going to try again. They will make a presentation before the Ohio Department of Development board, seeking a $2.2 million grant.
I wonder if a photo of a family enjoying a day in their yard with the exposed second-floor men's room in the background will be a part of the presentation.
These baby steps are starting to add up, folks.