The Natives Are Getting Restless . . .

Since Grumpy's was forced to vacate Riverside's landmark Arcade Building in January, residents have seen the "This Place Matters" signage from the Friends of the Arcade's National Trust photo campaign subsequently removed from Grumpy's former storefront. In recent weeks, more of the building's historic art glass has been boarded over.

And still it sits. As the Arcade building changes hands, Riverside residents are understandably restless over the fate of their beloved landmark. This just in from the Opinion page of today's Riverside-Brookfield Landmark:

Saving a landmark

Now that the Arcade Building in downtown Riverside is out from under the thumb of a court-appointed receiver and no longer part of the massive Wextrust securities fraud lawsuit, it's time to try to figure out a way to save it.

That's going to be a tricky proposition, of course, since the building is in private hands - namely a Minnesota bank. But in a call to that bank by the Landmark, PrinsBank President Michael Mulder seemed to indicate that the mortgage holder (a company affiliated with the bank) would seek to sell the building to get it off its books.

If that's the case - and we can see no reason for that not to be the case, because the mortgage holder likely has no interest in owning an empty, unfinished financial black hole or being a real estate developer - then Riverside can start pressuring the owner to sell, and soon.

First off, Riverside can enforce its property maintenance code to the letter in order to send the message that the village has no intention of letting the Arcade Building stand as a miserable hulk.

The village's Preservation Commission could begin reaching out to those property owners, both within and outside of Riverside, interested in saving local landmarks. While no one can force the mortgage holder to act and the credit markets are still clamped down tight, it seems that the village should be able to play a role in getting this problem solved, even if it's merely prodding it along with a stick.

One thing's certain, Riverside can't afford to see its first and most important commercial landmark fall so far into disrepair that the wrecking ball is the only solution.

Unlike the court-appointed receiver, the building's new owner and his agents are easy to reach. Time to start calling.