What’s the story behind demolition? | Letters | August 12

Published 5:28 pm Thursday, August 11, 2011

The word from those with authority is that the Art Studio is a lost cause. This despite the legality of destroying one of the few remaining studio spaces in downtown Winslow, an area where real artists can no longer afford to live and work.

Had we the funds to engage the kind of hotshot lawyer the Metro Park District employs we could prevail against this outrageous abuse of power.

I keep feeling there are, as usual, some unseen forces at work.

The property immediately to the south was once belonged to Hoskinson, one of Winslow’s original settlers. It seems no coincidence this land was recently purchased in a forced sale by one of those shell companies, and all our research has been unable to connect a human face to this shadowy LLC.

Some LLC’s are created specifically to hide the true buyers and their activities.

Is it possible this faceless entity is exerting influence/pressure to have this building removed because it might have a negative effect on the holy bottom line? What is the plan for this lot? Have all the decisions about its development already been made behind COBI’s famously closed doors, far from public input?

It would be better if these things were brought to light rather than being sprung upon the public before it’s too late. We could ensure the property doesn’t become another Harbor Square abomination. We could determine a future of this historically important site that accords with our own aesthetic values rather than abdicating our responsibility to an unknown, purely profit- motivated entity.

Craig Spencer

Bainbridge Island