The rather ugly gray building across river street from the new embassy suites continues to sit vacant after several years and an attempt at turning it into a visitor center that included business and meeting spaces, and an event venue.
It’s prime location along the swamp rabbit trail would be a welcome addition to plans further down the trail for a large park in space currently occupied by the old public works building, just beyond AJ Whittenburg Elementary on the trail.
It’s kind of a cool-looking brick building that could possibly be repurposed and the original facade kept in-tact and re-painted, but with the $2.4 Million dollar price tag on the land, the building would likely be demolished and repurposed as something greater.
We’ve learned the building is being demolished to make room for a parking lot – great news for users of the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail. It’s unclear if this will be a free or paid parking lot.
PRO TIP: The parking lot underneath the Embassy Suites is a city garage, and always has plenty of space. The first hour is free, the 2nd hour is $1.50 and then $1 per hour after that, up to a max of $7.50 a day. So if you’re coming downtown for just a couple hours, a garage is always a better bet than the $5 and $10 surface lots, and the garages will keep your car cool and dry.
