Atascadero Printery Foundation has a worthy goal of rescuing the historic building
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we’re delivering a bouquet of a dozen red paper roses to the Atascadero Printery Foundation for its efforts to rescue the historic building.
The vacant Printery — one of Atascadero’s oldest and most treasured landmarks — was badly damaged in the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake and more recently has been attracting squatters, including one who broke in and started a fire. In response, the city hired a company to board up the building.
At one time, the city had planned to turn the Printery into a youth center, but after the quake hit, officials decided the project would cost too much. The Printery wound up in the hands of Kelly Gearhart, who planned to convert it into a private events center. That, too, was not meant to be, because Gearhart was convicted of fraud and money laundering, and the building ended up in a bankruptcy case.
In the latest chapter of the Printery saga, the building is now scheduled to be auctioned to the highest bidder in a May 14 tax sale. The foundation is trying to prevent that, said the group’s leader, Karen McNamara. She said she believes it still may be possible to stop the tax sale from occurring, clearing the way for the foundation to step in and purchase the building and renovate it for use as a community center.
That’s a big undertaking. McNamara said she’s been told it would cost around $15 million to restore it, but with the help of grants and donations, it’s not out of reach, she said. Her group’s goal is to see the Printery used as a community building for recreational activities and other classes and events, rather than having it swooped up by a private developer who might turn it into private offices, for example.
“We’d hate for it to get ripped away from the city,” McNamara said. “It’s been a community building.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Atascadero Printery Foundation has a worthy goal of rescuing the historic building."