CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Rick and Sue Goble haven’t been told by the Clarion County Commissioners that they will be moving the county probation office out of the Haskell Building at the corner of Main Street and Fifth Avenue, but they know their long-time tenant will be leaving at some point, and they are considering their options with the 170-year-old building.
Comments at official commissioner meetings and rumors have left them with the understanding that the probation office will likely be moving to the county’s newly purchased building — the old Goodwill/Golden Dawn/A&P building at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Liberty Street.
The county is also likely to move the rented offices of District Magistrate Dwayne Quinn on Grant Street after the completion of the renovations to the new county building. The move is made to provide adequate facilities for the two county entities and stop paying rent.
The Gobles are the owners of Cornerstone Development of Pennsylvania, and that group is the owner of the Haskell Building. It is called the Haskell Building because it was formerly the home of Haskell Furniture, but it has had various names and businesses in its long history.
In an interview with exploreClarion.com on Friday, the couple said they had not been notified.
“I want to be fair to the county because they have been a long-term tenant,” said Rick. “We’re kind of waiting to see when they are going to leave before we do anything. There’s opportunity there, but there are challenges, too. It is an anchor building. Maybe they’re waiting until they have a date. I don’t know, but it makes sense to me. They probably don’t know when they will be moving.”
The Gobles said they are open to anything that would add value to Main Street and are not open to anything that would detract. The first floor is the only one used by the probation office, and the second floor has been open for some time.
“I would sell — I would rent — I would renovate — I would do whatever is necessary to help Clarion,” said Rick. “Obviously, people would have to be qualified if they wanted me to put a bunch of money in. We would have to have a good lease to support that.”
Demolition is also an option if an alternative is not found because Gobles feel they cannot “sit on” the building while also facing an annual tax bill of a little over $7,000.00.
“And, you can’t have a vacant building setting on Main Street. Safety-wise — we don’t want vagrants moving in,” said Rick.
(Pictured above: A postcard from May 18, 1911, shows the same building on Main Street, reflecting its many uses over the years. The Arnold Brothers Store sold dry goods, carpets, hats, clothing, and curtains for over 20 years.)The building does have some hidden attractions, including original tin ceilings and original woodwork that was covered when it was converted to office space. Anyone that remembers Haskell’s undoubtedly still has a memory of the sweeping wood railing and steps leading up to the second floor.
“The staircase is beautiful,” said Sue. “We would like to give the building new life, and we would be open to any suggestions to give it new life. We would work with anybody as much as we could.”
“I’d love to help the town and do whatever we can, but we’re limited,” said Rick. “I’m concerned about retail in general — malls are closing — people aren’t going to the bricks and mortar, and they’re buying on line. However, I think there’s opportunity here with maybe creating a local mini mall in there with smaller local shops. Maybe someone could take the whole building over and subdivide it and provide people with startup space basically where they could start their own little business and hopefully grow and help all of Clarion.”
The couple has taken some drives to Ellicottville, New York, where buildings have been refurbished and offer many ideas that could be used in their building, including adding new windows along Fifth Avenue that would show off diners in a restaurant or highlight mini-mall businesses.
“That’s an idea, but what does Clarion need? Dan Parker has been a great help as mayor. He’s been searching what would be good for Clarion. I think that a restaurant would be ideal. We were just over at Luigi’s in DuBois, and it’s the same type of building. I think we need banquet facilities, and we’ve got a whole big second floor that could be used for banquets. The Legion also has a very nice facility for a banquet on their second floor.”
Goble said that they had been approached by Luigi’s in the past when the family restaurant was looking at several Clarion locations, but the deal fell through because someone from the family would have had to come over to run it, and another location was found.
“I would just like to find something to use for the building.”
Cornerstone Development
Rick and Sue have various rentals in the Clarion area, and they are experienced in the business. The start of Cornerstone Development was a direct result of Clarion County Commissioners in the 1990’s requesting proposals for office space, and some of the bidders offered new buildings, but Cornerstone offered something different at the time.
“It goes way back to when Don Minich had the Haskell’s Furniture store, and he was closing it down,” said Rick. “He was looking for a use for the building. We went together and bid a proposal for the county for an office building, and that’s how we got involved. Since then, he’s left the area and left me holding the building. Sue did eventually buy out Don’s share.”
Cornerstone, at one time, offered to give the building to the county, but commissioners turned down the offer. More recently in 2014, Goble did another proposal for the county that Cornerstone would completely renovate the building into a Class A Office building and rent it to them or sell the building to them.
“I think the government should not be buying buildings and should be renting because when the government takes over a building, they take it off of the tax roll. They’re competing against people like me that do pay taxes and are trying to do the same thing. I think that’s a real disadvantage for any taxpayer trying to do business. It’s hard to compete against somebody who doesn’t pay taxes.”
“I assume that the Golden Dawn/Goodwill building will come off of the tax rolls, and you have to ask yourself if that is good for Clarion Borough and the Clarion Area School District. Probably not. They need all of the tax base they can get. I think that ultimately raises the taxes on other people that are left.”
“The county is also in the rental business through its rental of the old hospital to agencies and are reimbursed from state and county funding. Those are all agencies that could be in the community, renting from private individuals, and now they aren’t.”
When the county purchased the Main Street Administrative Building from the Clarion University Foundation, it became a tax-exempt building. The Foundation was paying a payment in lieu of taxes for its properties, even though it is a tax-exempt organization.
Busiest corner in Clarion County
Goble said that traffic count studies had labeled the corner of Main Street and Fifth as the busiest corner in Clarion County, and the location is ideal for anyone looking for high visibility.
He also feels there is adequate parking, even though it is not on the building lot.
“I think there’s enough parking,” continued Rick. “If someone goes to Walmart, and if it’s a little busy, they’ve got to park clear on the other end of the parking lot. By the time they get clear through to Walmart, that’s about the same length of the Clarion Main Street business district. There’s plenty of parking within a block of our building.”
The Gobles are committed to Clarion.
“We’re staying here,” said Sue. “We’re not retiring and moving.”
“I like to work, and I was born and raised in Clarion and am not going anywhere,” said Rick. “My dad was at it a long time, and I hope I am, too. We want to see the town prosper.“
