Is the castle a sow”s ear?
Please Kelly Cox, Lake County Administrator, tell us Lake County taxpayers that the Board of Supervisors (BOS) are not really going to work a deal through the Redevelopment Agency whereby they are going to purchase the castle in Lucerne for the ridiculous sum of $1.35 million dollars. And then, according to the appraisal done in 2009, they are figuring on spending another million and a half or so and then the appraiser calls it an improved hotel property with a value of $3.5 million, using the market value approach. Now Cox and the BOS are thrilled to pieces because, they say the owners discounted the property for the agency to $1.35 million. Yup, that”s what they did; they discounted that rickety 81-year-old building for the agency to $1.35 million.
Cox and each and every one of the BOS seemed thrilled with all of the possibilities the castle offered. Cox said, “The agency could work with local colleges or vocational colleges to develop an educational center, possibly including a conference center.” It has tremendous potential, he said. Not to be outdone, the BOS had its own delusions of grandeur. Farrington said he thinks a culinary education that partners with the wine and hospitality industry would be an interesting idea. Jeff Smith thinks it”s a no-brainer and supports the project. Rob Brown had some reservations but thinks it”s a great idea worth supporting. And so on. Getting the appraisal from Cox”s office was a big help but he informed me that I couldn”t go around inside the building because there would be architects and engineers working in there. In the five or six times I was there, I never saw anybody but the caretaker and some people who came to pick up some stuff and put it in a little school bus. So I called Bryce, the real estate listing agent and he told me that he couldn”t allow me to go inside but that I could walk around the outside of the building. However, when I went back the next day, I found that I couldn”t walk around the outside of the building because the gates were locked. When I located the caretaker, he said he would have to go call Bryce on the phone before he would let me through the gate. But when he came back, he said, “Bryce said to tell you that you are not welcome on the property and that he told you that you could walk around the property on the public road.” Imagine telling little ol” me such a thing?
So here is what I think about that old castle and the rest is just my own assumptions. That old building is 81 years old, at least. A big section of the roof is in real bad shape and has probably been in need of repairs or replacement for quite a spell. This probably means that the next two floors below are in bad shape too. The eaves of all of the roofs are not very large, which means that in any driving rainstorms that old stucco building and little wood frame windows would really take a beating. Eighty-five rooms, wow. How good are the footings and foundations? That building is 81 years old, same age as me, and built on a steep side slope and back then they didn”t make real good concrete and it has almost no drainage on the back side. It would be much better to build a new, modern building.
So to the people who authorized the purchase of the castle, don”t be surprised if you hear some eerie laughter when you visit the castle. That”s those folks who gave you that big discount on their way to the bank. You can”t make a silk purse out of a sow”s ear.
Wes Lyman
Nice
