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NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Here's the good News: The eyesore that was the former Dunn Lumber building at West Canal Street and U.S. 1 is no more. Now for the bad news: A desperately-needed southbound turning lane onto West Canal is at least five years away.
"The state Department of Transportation doesn't have enough in their budget for this project," City Manager Pam Brangaccio said. "The best case scenario is about five years. They don't have the money right now."
Still, last month's razing of the building is a major improvement for New Smyrna Beach's heaviest intersection with the Florida East Coast railroad crossing less than a hundred yards in on West Canal, city officials have said.
The City Commission voted two years ago to authorize the Community Redevelopment Agency to spend $417,000 to purchase the former Dunn Lumber property at the city's key intersection, seen as the gateway to New Smyrna Beach's tourism route: Historic Canal Street and the Indian River to the east, along with tourist-trendy Flagler Avenue and the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west, State Road 44 corridor shopping and rural charm.
Commissioner Jim Hathaway questioned the need to pay so much, but then-Mayor Sally Mackay was adamant her colleagues not "quibble" over the cost.
"It's the heart of our city," the mayor said. That is the center of New Smyrna Beach. It's where you live. It's where I live... I don't think we should quibble... The city needs to claim the center of this town."