Academy site being proposed for demolition

Parking and snow storage?

The new owners of the old Crested Butte Academy buildings are proposing to tear the structures down this fall and let the lot be used for town snow storage and parking. Academy Place LLC bought the property this summer.

Managing partner for Academy Place LLC Bob Brotherton said they plan to go to the Crested Butte Board of Zoning and Architectural Review (BOZAR) at the end of October to get permission for the demolition. In the meantime, they have contracted with an asbestos abatement company and hope to have all the asbestos removed by October 27.
“There is a lot of exposed asbestos in the buildings,” Brotherton explained. “All the drywall in the walls and ceilings, the floor tiles and kitchen areas have asbestos that need to be taken out of there and removed to a site that deals in asbestos. If BOZAR allows our request, we’ll start taking down the buildings after the abatement process is complete and hopefully have them down by
Thanksgiving.”
The old 22-feet by 50-feet block building at the west end of the property was built in 1951 and is designated as an historic structure. That building will not be demolished.
“The biggest concern we see on the horizon is the neighbors across the alley suddenly losing some privacy with the big buildings being gone,” said Brotherton. “But we plan to plant some aspens along the alley to provide a sense of privacy and do some other landscaping on the property.”
Crested Butte building and zoning director Bob Gillie said the demolition plan must go through BOZAR. “The members of the board will look at the impact of taking those buildings down on the adjacent neighborhood,” he said. “They’ll also consider the precedent for taking down existing buildings and what the site will look like in the interim. We have to assume sooner or later the site will be developed but we don’t know how long it will sit in an empty state. They’re proposing some landscaping to soften the look of a vacant property, and BOZAR will discuss it all.”
The developers want to wait a while before approaching the town with a development plan for the property. One of the investors in Academy Place LLC is also an investor in the Sixth Street Station project. “We’ll wait and see how Sixth Street Station goes with the town,” said Brotherton. “The back of the Academy property is zoned T-1 [tourist] while the front five lots are zoned B-2 [business]. It’s a rough economy right now to try to figure out what might work five years down the road. It will probably be at least a year or two before we see where the Sixth Street proposal goes.”
In the meantime, Brotherton said, the group would lease the property to the town for $1 a year and let it be used for parking and snow storage. “The parking demand in town could be addressed, especially for the arts center, which is across the street,” he said.
Gillie said the offer is nice but the board shouldn’t necessarily allow the demolition just to obtain some short-term parking and snow storage. “Leasing the town the property is a short term solution to a long-term problem,” said Gillie. “I don’t think BOZAR should consider the lease issue when weighing whether or not to allow the buildings to come down. The board should look at all the pros and cons of razing the buildings before making a decision.”
If all the paperwork is received in time, a public hearing on the demolition will be scheduled for October 27.