On Sept. 15, I got off the bike in front of the vacant lot at 370 Burkhart St. S.E.
Once a year or so curiosity and the bike take me to 370 Burkhart St. S.E. in Albany. I go there to check if anything has happened at the address since I first wrote about it nine years ago.
When I went there this month, the only thing that had changed since my last visit in September 2023 was that the weeds had gotten taller and the parking strip in front was even more overgrown.
The place is of interest — a little interest anyway — because it contains a two-story concrete structure on top of a concrete tank 20 or 30 feet deep. It was built in the 1960s as a reservoir on the Albany water system. The City of Albany bought the system from Pacific Power & Light in 1985 and disconnected this reservoir some years later.
A few years ago the city briefly thought of making the lot available for a housing project subsidized with federal grant money. The idea died when the city got an estimate that demolishing the concrete reservoir would cost $400,000 or more.
The property was declared surplus, and in 2021 Albany sold it for $4,000 to two men, a civil engineer living in Albany and the Salem owner of a construction company. They still own it, according to county records.
When the city owned it, the lot was occasionally mowed. That no longer takes place, judging by the way the property looked this month.
Will any development ever happen there? Who knows? As I have done each of the past few years, I hope to go by there again in 2025 and report what I see. (hh)
A closer look, from the street, at the concrete structure that used to be a water reservoir at 370 Burkhart S.E.
$400,000 to demolish the old concrete reservoir? The city paid a million dollars plus to tear down the bank building on First Street and 25 million on making a kiddie park, and “sort of” a stage, and bricking over parts of Water Street.
I used to live around the corner from this spot. I’m really surprised the homeless population hasn’t cut the fence and made themselves at home since the property is no longer cared for. As camping on public property is no longer an option, I suppose it’s only a matter of time. I hope the new owners can do something with it soon. 400k seems a bit of a hefty price tag to demolish the existing structure though.
As I recall there were promises made about development by the new owners, it would be interesting to see what the city says about that