JOHN REYNOLDS, The State Journal-Register, Posted Sep 24, 2011
With its peeling paint and cracked parking lot, the old Taylor Rental building at 2056 S. MacArthur Blvd. isn’t going to win any beauty awards.
In Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin’s opinion, the vacant building is in line for another distinction. “There have been complaints on that building,” said McMenamin. “It competes for one of the worst looking properties on MacArthur at the present time.”
Building “detracts from neighborhood”
County documents list the owner of the building as Key Properties LLC, care of Robert Dahl.
Key Outdoor Advertising is in the converted brick bungalow next to the building and shares the same address as the former rental building. A man who answered the phone at the advertising office said Dahl was out of town.
In addition to the peeling paint, McMenamin said some of the fascia boards are rotten and there are missing and loose shingles.
Alderman offered plan
McMenamin said he approached employees at the advertising agency and told them he was willing to work out a deal where he would use the old building as an aldermanic office and make improvements in lieu of rent. “I was looking for properties I might be able to improve and use as an office,” McMenamin said. “We exchanged business cards and I asked for a call-back. I never got one.”
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 