Ormond Beach, FL - The fate of a church off of North Beach Street will be decided come the city commission's first workshop of 2020.
The building, which was constructed in the 1970s, houses the congregation for the Ormond Beach Riverside Church. In June of 2018, the city of Ormond Beach bought the over 40-year-old building for $729,000. That's after a city inspection found the building to be unsafe, citing problems such as mold and the possibility of lead paint and asbestos being present on the property.
The city also decided in September of that year to not renew the lease of the congregation, meaning they would have to vacate the property at the end of the term, leaving the building empty.
In and out of city commission meetings there have been talks of turning the building into some kind of civic/community center, which can give residents and the city a chance to host large private/public gatherings.
Nothing was decided as of yet. But, according to Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington, the decision could be coming soon.
Partington spoke earlier this month (December 4th) with WNDB host and political analyst Marc Bernier on his show about the state of the city. During their interview, Bernier asked Partington what was coming for the building. He replied saying that talks were slated for January 7th, 2020, Ormond's first meeting of the new year.
"We're going to have a workshop to discuss how to use or what to do with the church property," said Partington.
As stated before, the original talk around town was that the city wanted to turn the property into a community center. However, there seem to be a few concerns with how they would handle that, according to the mayor.
"Do you leave it in its current configuration or close to its current configuration? Do you just tear it down and then rebuild something that's a new community center?" said Partington. "Do you use it as a parking lot until you decide what you want to do with it?"
Another possibility, which was brought up by Bernier, was that the city could "flip" the property and sell it. Partington said that was also a possibility.
An additional idea that was brought up by Partington was that the city could move the library to the lot on Beach Street.
But, before the city moves forward with any plan, Partington says they need to hear from the public.
"It's really important that we hear from our residents what the best use is going to be for that for the city," said Partington. "It was a strategic purchase and its key to our downtown."
The Ormond Beach City Commission will meet January 7th, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. for a workshop to discuss plans for the property.
