The Owen Block Preservation Effort’s Facebook page, merely a week old, had nearly 1700 likes when this story went to the printer.
With that mass support, the group is challenging followers to put their money where their mouth – or mouse – is, by raising $220,000.
The money would go to Indiana Landmarks, which has already secured $220,000 in bonds and private donations, Indiana Landmarks president Marsh Davis said.
The Facebook group's spokesperson Jesika Ellis says she’s encouraged by the swift action taken by both preservationists and the City to save the historic building.
But it comes with a lesson for future preservation efforts, Ellis said.
“We have to be vocal and we have to be able to articulate the goals of preservation," Ellis said. "And understand that waiting until the eleventh hour for either the city or either ourselves as supporters is simply not a strategy.”
A raze order was issued on the building January 8, and the public code enforcement hearing is January 22.
Indiana Landmarks President Marsh Davis says the full $440,000 is required to address the building’s code violations and get the renovation project underway.
