NEWS

Alexandria still wants deal on Coliseum parking lot

Richard Sharkey
rsharkey@thetowntalk.com, (318) 487-6490
The Rapides Parish Coliseum will undergo a $23 million renovation, but first a dispute over the parking lot must be resolved.

The city of Alexandria stands ready to make a deal with the Rapides Parish Police Jury over the Coliseum parking lot, despite the parish suing the city over the issue.

The City Council on Tuesday introduced a special ordinance to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Police Jury to resolve the parking lot dispute that has delayed a $23 million renovation to the Rapides Parish Coliseum.

City Council President Chuck Fowler said the ordinance was introduced to provide the framework for a deal with the Police Jury.

The ordinance was one to accommodate "the deal that was in progress" before the Police Jury filed a lawsuit, he said.

"Basically we went ahead and introduced it with the hope that we can work something out in the interim. If we can't, we'll see 'em in court," Fowler said after Tuesday's council meeting.

The ordinance won't come before the council for official action until Nov. 25, after required publication requirements have been met. There wasn't any discussion of the ordinance during Tuesday's City Council meeting other than to get clarification on when it would be available for the council to consider.

While the parish owns the Coliseum itself, the city and the parish jointly own more than 16 acres of the surrounding property, most of which has been used for parking for decades without an official agreement.

To get the permits needed to proceed with the Coliseum renovation, designers must show that the parking spaces available meet city codes. That means the parish needs ownership or a firm agreement on use of that parking area.

Both sides have talked about a deal in which the parish would get ownership of the property, but they have yet to nail down an agreement on the price. A parish appraisal shows the city's portion of the property is worth $1.1 million. Some additional work is being done on a city appraisal, which shows the city's portion as being worth more than $1.1 million.

The protracted negotiations led the Police Jury to file a lawsuit against the city last Thursday, seeking the right to use the jointly owned property for parking or to partition the property.

Fowler said the city has offered the Police Jury a fair deal.

"We've offered it at the lowest appraised value, which is the lowest value that we can sell it for," he said.

"What our thinking is, is the difference in the appraisal that they have and the true worth of the property would be the city's investment in the Coliseum project," Fowler said.

Council member Mitzi LaSalle said a deal should have been reached with the Police Jury months ago so that the Coliseum renovations can begin.

"We should be working as closely as we can with the Police Jury to make that project happen," said LaSalle, who is one of five candidates in the Alexandria mayoral election next Tuesday.

"I am not happy that it has gotten to the point that another governmental entity is having to sue us when we should be working together because, pretty frankly, the city of Alexandria is going to be a huge beneficiary" of economic activity generated by a refurbished Coliseum, LaSalle said.

She said the administration hasn't worked closely enough with the Police Jury to make the deal happen. "And the longer that project is delayed, it is truly also costing the city of Alexandria" which will have to wait longer to reap the economic benefits, LaSalle said.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, the council introduced an ordinance that would allow the sale of the downtown Alexander Fulton Hotel. It too won't come up for discussion until the Nov. 25 council meeting, and it will be heard by the Legal and Finance Committee first.

Reggie Winfield, owner of Windfeel Properties which is managing the city-owned hotel, attended but did not speak during the meeting. Many audience members in the nearly packed council meeting room apparently were there to show support for his goal to buy the hotel.

However, it appears Southern Hospitality Group, LLC, has the inside track to buy the hotel.