The city bought the property in 1997.
For nearly two decades, the old Athens armory has been a wash.
After buying the building in 1997 as part of a multiple-property, $250,000 deal, the city has spent tens of thousands of dollars each year for its upkeep.
That spending has yielded nothing, at least as far as we can see.
Surely a lot of money and planning goes into renovating a building that’s more than 100 years old, and we understand that. But the clock has long been up on that excuse: There’s no rationalizing Athens’ inaction.
The city has had 18 years to chart a course for the armory and explore different funding opportunities.
It’s a shame that such a historical building should remain vacant for so long, at the detriment of taxpayers’ wallets. Now, by putting more money from taxpayers and grants toward its renovation, the city seems to be doubling down on investing in the armory’s future.
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We urge city officials to finally follow through and make something great happen at Court Street’s northern end.
If that proves unrealistic, then we encourage them to find a responsible developer who could take the property off their hands and work at it on their own accord.
Either way, the city needs to act on the armory. A beautiful, historical building has been left in limbo and taxpayer money has been misused for 18 years.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Emma Ockerman, Managing Editor Rebekah Barnes and Digital Managing Editor Samuel Howard. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
