Warehouse causes speed bumps

Published 11:39 pm Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The city of Selma continued to seek answers to problems that have come up with the warehouse on the site of the Riverwalk Amphitheater project.

Planning and Development director Charlotte Griffeth said the building’s lack of recognition on the National Historic Registry has caused problems in securing funding, but she said she and Selma Mayor George Evans have a planned meeting with Elizabeth Brown of the Alabama Historic Commission Wednesday, Feb. 8 to explore more options to maintain the integrity of the building.

The original project, Griffeth said, calls for the stage to be part of the building. A recent low-bid for phase I of the project was submitted for $597,000 from local company Frasier and Ousley construction. The amount, Griffeth said, is lower than the $600,000 they expected.

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When the area was originally surveyed for the registry, Griffeth said the building — which served as a depot and warehouse — was overlooked.

“For some reason when the National Historic Registry of Significant Historic Buildings was done, this was left out,” she said. “That was a grave mistake when that was done. I was very concerned.”