Ron Czerwien, owner of Avol's Book Store, was shocked to learn that the building Avol's has inhabited for nearly two decades is facing demolition, especially given that he'd been negotiating renewal of the lease in good faith. The store is housed in the historic Women's Building, and there have been attempts to have it officially declared a historic landmark. Unfortunately, the fa??ade was deemed too far removed from its original design to merit the status, and while the stage for Madison's first theater can still be found inside, the interior space cannot be landmarked.
The controversy surrounding the potential closing of Avol's Book Store-and there is some-involves two larger problems in Madison's downtown. There is the pushing out of local independent business that has been plaguing State Street, as well as the proliferation of high rise, high-rent housing in an already flooded housing market.
New stores like Dick & Jane and Pink Panties have filled in some of the empty storefronts along State Street, but others like Tomboy Girl and Disc-Go-Round have been forced to move or close. Just within the realm of the local bookstore, the closing of Avol's would be the third downtown used book shop to close within the last year, following the loss of McDermott's and More Books. A certain amount of turnover may be normal in an area like this, but the rate of closing has gotten a bit alarming.
The danger to local businesses is only going to increase. The State Street redesign begins its reconstruction on the 100 block next summer and will move down the blocks from there. While it will serve nicely to spruce up the area, replacing long out-of-date and shabby planters, kiosks and bus stations, there are some businesses that may not survive. The construction on Johnson Street caused a drop in foot traffic for the two blocks of State closest to the Capitol, and it only made crossing the intersection slightly less convenient. For next summer's reconstruction, retailers estimate losing half their business as the pavement is ripped up and new design elements are put into place. The city is offering nothing in compensation, and owners can only hope that the project is done in a more timely fashion than Johnson.
The losses will be local independents, and their replacements will be high-end retail, corporate chains and restaurants, in keeping with the encroaching gentrification. Ever since the Overture project was announced, the flavor of the area has shifted, with the market adjusting to fit the anticipated needs of an audience that has yet to arrive. It's a loss not only to the student population, but the community as a whole because a distinctive destination is being homogenized. Unique businesses like Avol's are more valuable to the area than another corporate mall clone.
Beyond the harm of losing an otherwise solid and entrenched local business, is more high-rise student housing necessary?
With the completion of the Aberdeen on University, there will be four complexes in a row, not to mention others slightly farther east. Rent on the units in the proposed building will need to stay within the upper price range, given the $3 million paid for the property and the $4 million to $5 million that the complex will cost. Landlords have vacant apartments in the tower complexes already built. Investors in the downtown market have been paying greatly inflated prices for properties. Most can never make up the cost without razing the existing structures and building high density apartment complexes. The market, however, can not continue to support this kind of speculation. Apartment complexes are being built for student housing, but while the number of units is going up, the student population is not. Making a profit on investments like this is becoming a dim hope, at best. It seems that a few more familiar downtown sites will be destroyed before this lesson is learned.
Avol's future rests with the Urban Design Committee. Downtown does not need another student housing complex. Effort should be put into preserving the character of the area, and that means preserving the buildings and local businesses. When buying the property, Joe McCormick obviously intended this course-paying $3 million would have been ridiculous otherwise.
It doesn't mean the city has to go along with the scheme.
