City considers fate of Packard graveyard in middle of Lawrence

[jcmiller]

This may be old news to you guys:

City considers fate of Packard graveyard in middle of Lawrence / LJWorld.com

[Guest BJM]

Not old news. Thank you for getting the news out and started. This needs to go into the greater community further up and I wish I could get it on the PAC forum, but I am not familiar with whether they have a discussion forum.

This is significant on SO MANY fronts. 1st, it appears to be a "saved car" lot for the last Lawrence Packard Agency. 2nd, while these cars are in tough shape, they may have low miles and at least offer up parts, if not present themselves as restoration projects.

2. Only Packard and old car geeks know their value. IF they are just a bunch of Supers and Clippers, maybe they are not as valuable, but what if a Custom is in there? Or a Caribbean? Convertible?

3. It sounds like the city administrators just want this site cleaned up, so they could do a middle of the night type deal with the local salvage yard. Then it's game off, as the salvage yard sees these simply as $400 a tonners.

4. The original family appears to have no interest. What a shame. 2011 saw several 2nd and 3rd generation family auctions of their 1st gen owners cars with satisfying results for the family and the new owners. It would be a way to honor the last Packard dealers in Lawrence by moving their cars into others hands.

5. This matter would take a dedicated Lawrence based "boots on the ground" old car enthusiast to contact that city administrator, contact the family and move this along to a positive resolution. I would go to an auction, for sure, and who is to say what other Packard stuff is in the house and/or on the grounds.

Do we have anybody in Lawrence interested in looking into this matter?

[jeff_a]

Bryan,

Neat to hear of that old house with the Packards in the back yard. My wife grew up in a house about four blocks from there, but never noticed the cars in the back. I suspect it's been overgrown forever. We even looked at the house on Google Maps and the streetscape function. You can't see the cars from space or from 50 feet away. What's interesting is that the police station is only a few hundred feet away. The location near City Park and Downtown would make the old house & it's big lot extremely valuable in the Lawrence real estate market.

Edited March 23, 2012 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[jcmiller]

Here is some more information:

Memorandum

[J3Studio]

Is there a chance to save any of this or will it end in a complete demolition and junking?

[Guest BJM]

The information in the city report is very telling, very interesting. The Barlands are, for whatever reasons, not friendly to the prospect of demolition of the structures and removal of the vehicles. They have continually placed obstacles in the way of the city.

I would gladly write a persuasive letter to the brothers but feel based on the content of the adminstrative report, that it would not yield results.

It would take ahPackard and old car hobby community effort to save the 15 Packards. Few hobbyists, in my opinion, feel this would be a good use of time.

So the long answer to the question "can these be saved" is likely NO.

To save them, and have them dispersed as much as possible to interested parties, 1st, there would have to be an ad hoc organization take charge of the negotiating with the brothers. This would likely have to be local. Interested parties such as myself, could support this local front with money and ideas.

Brainstorming would absolutely be necessary. I am always a glass half full guy and I could write out a plan to save the Packards but it would require a local presence to execute.

For instance, one would start with that letter to the brothers to gauge interest in an auction of the cars. The flow chart would go 1. Positive response, 2. Negative response or 3. No response.

With a positive response, the next step would be involvement of the city administrators and location of a local auction company to perform the selling duties.

With a negative or no response, then a 2nd letter indicating proposed action of cooperation with city officials would be sent to the brothers. At the same time, notification to the local salvage yard concerns as a preemptive would be necessary, as that 2nd letter could result in the brothers wanting to dictate disposal of the cars and that would mean contacting the yards.

From this point, a vigilance and plan would be executed toward an end that would hopefully result in the cars disposal to enthusiasts. However, the city, which appears to be in the process of successful condemnation, may not be cooperative to an approach by a "Save the Packards" group.

My feeling is they would be interested in a car preservation group that approached them in a serious, unified manner.

But the bottom line is that, although it was mentioned that these cars are on the radar of local Packard collectors, no one so far seems to be moving toward a plan to save the cars.

Are the cars worth saving? To about 90% of the old car hobby, no. And we do not have an inventory of what models are there. In the one photo, I see some less desirable Clippers and 22nd series Supers. However, the important piece to the puzzle is that the owner was the local Packard dealer and these may have been low mileage tradeins and among the 15 there might be some more desirable models.

Again, "boots on the ground" can determine this pretty quickly. A local member of the group (ficticious at this point) would need to "walk their dog" near the compound and then take photos and try to determine what was there.

Ultimately an auction may end up sending some or all of these to the salvage yard for crushing but that could be part of the process that an organized group could ascertain.

It sounds fun to me to try and work through the process but so far there has not been a peep from Lawrence area AACA and Packard Club members that I know of, and I doubt many visit this forum and can find this post.

It's a compelling story and only involved enthusiasts can see it to the best possible resolution. If nobody does anything, then the Packards will be crushed. Scrap is $300 + a ton.

To the original administrative letter content above, it is unfortunate that the Barlands are being so combative in the process but on the other hand, this is evidence that we live in the USA and seizure of property is taken seriously and slowly.

[Guest BJM]

Is there a chance to save any of this or will it end in a complete demolition and junking?

“I’m not a car guy, but I think they probably still have some value to collectors,” said Jimenez.

If not, they at least still have a story. An old garage on the property still has the sign of “University Motors,” which research shows began serving as the city’s Packard dealership in the mid-1940s.

The property is owned by the estate of Raymond Barland. According to a 2004 obituary for Barland, he and his brothers Delmar and Leroy started University Motors in 1947. Old phone books indicate the dealership was in the 700 block of New Hampshire Street into the 1960s.

Brian Jimenez is with the city and should be contacted to see if he in turn has been contacted by local old car hobby enthusiasts.

This house is on Rhode Island Street and I suspect was close to the dealership on New Hampshire St. There may be (operative word maybe) significant Packard petrolania in the garages or sheds.

I am still perpelxed why the brothers are being confrontational in the process with the city. The lot has very little value as city gentrify and residents move to the suburbs. The lot is maybe worth $10,000 if that. Are they concerned with being stuck with the demolation bill? Maybe.

If that's not the reason, then do they just not want to tear down a home that has been in the family for years? Just not sure what their motive is for blocking inspection and movement.

[JD in KC]

...so far there has not been a peep from Lawrence area AACA and Packard Club members that I know of, and I doubt many visit this forum and can find this post.

I'm pretty sure that most local Packard enthusiasts are aware of the situation. I know the local (Kansas City) PAC club was advised. It's been on the PackardInfo.com site since July, 2010. For more information, you can read the original thread here: Packard Motor Car Information - Packard Cache & University Motors, Lawrence, Kansas [Packard Forums - General]

Edited March 23, 2012 by JD in KC
clarity (see edit history)

[jcmiller]

I traded emails with the planner. He has no other useful photos. I sent an email to the reporter but did not get a reply.

[WQ59B]

Not the best shot, but it's something:

You can rotate around it in Bing, but of course you can't make out individual vehicles.

Hope they can find new homes!

[Guest BJM]

I'm pretty sure that most local Packard enthusiasts are aware of the situation. I know the local (Kansas City) PAC club was advised. It's been on the PackardInfo.com site since July, 2010. For more information, you can read the original thread here: Packard Motor Car Information - Packard Cache & University Motors, Lawrence, Kansas [Packard Forums - General]

Thanks JD. It appears to end at Dec 2010 (the posts on the subject). I did not see a page 2.

[Guest BJM]

I traded emails with the planner. He has no other useful photos. I sent an email to the reporter but did not get a reply.

Thanks, keep us advised. I will look into it as well.

[jcmiller]

I sent an email to the "Nick" mentioned in that other thread. He quickly replied and I will summarize here. He said I can share the info, so I will forward his email to anyone who sends me a PM.

He was in contact with the current owner until about last year, evidently helping him with getting the property in order to sell. He connected the owner with a car guy from Wichita who offered to buy and remove all the cars for $250 each. The owner declined. For reasons unknown, the owner broke off contact with Nick and they have not said more than hello for the last year.

As to the cars:

"

I've seen 2 convertibles there I believe. I should state that all the cars are ROUGH at best, with lots of rust and such, but all the pieces are there - no parting out yet of any of the cars - lots of Clippers, mostly mid 50's I believe - maybe a few older. There is also legend of the barn being pretty full of new-in-box unused Packard parts.

"

He thinks it likely that a developer will buy the property along with the cars before the city takes over the property. His advice is to watch the papers and look for a sale and contact the buyer.

Jeff

[Guest BJM]

Jeff

Thanks. I will send a letter to the owners this week. $250 seems a little low but if that included the work to remove, it's a decent offer probably. When the day comes to remove these cars, it's going to take a lot of work.

[Guest D. V. E.]

Recent Developments -- Packard auction May 26, 2012.

1106 Rhode Island, Lawrence, Kansas.

City Staff is recommending the compliance date of July 13, 2012 for the exterior yard conditions to be compliant with city code. This date will allow for the Barland family to remove any remaining items that are in violation that were not sold at one of the two auctions. Failure to comply by that date will result in the city abating the remaining code violations.

On April 26, 2012, staff learned that Mark Elston of Elston Auction Company was recently contacted by the Barland family to perform two auctions. Staff contacted Mr. Elston and was advised that the first auction is to occur on May 26, 2012 and the second is to take place on June 24, 2012. The plan is to sell all of the vehicles and large salvage items on May 26th and all of the remaining items including those stored within the house and accessory structures on June 24th.

CITY COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA May 15, 2012 – 6:35 p.m.

A

re: Resolution No. 6972 -- the Act, hereby finds that the structures in question are unsafe and dangerous and hereby orders that said structures be repaired or razed and removed and that the premises be made safe and secure by July 16, 2012.

Agenda Item 2. Consider the following items related to 1106 Rhode Island Street:

a) Conduct public hearing for the dilapidated structures located at 1106 Rhode Island Street.

Consider adopting Resolution No. 6972, declaring the structures unsafe and dangerous and ordering the property owner to repair or remove the structures within a specified period of time. Should the property owner fail to comply, the City would contact for the removal of the structures.

ACTION: Conduct public hearing.

Adopt Resolution No. 6972, declaring the structures at 1106 Rhode Island as unsafe and dangerous and ordering the property owner to repair or remove the structures within a specified period of time, if appropriate.

Conduct public hearing for the exterior yard conditions at 1106 Rhode Island Street.

Consider adopting Resolution No. 6973, declaring the exterior yard conditions to be in violation of the City’s Environmental Code and ordering the property owner to remove all violations within a specified period of time. Should the owner fail to comply, the City would contract for the removal of the exterior yard violations.

ACTION: Conduct public hearing.

Adopt Resolution No. 6973, declaring the exterior yard conditions at 1106 Rhode Island Street to be in violation of the City’s Environmental Code and ordering the property to owner to remove all violations within a specified period of time, if appropriate.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recent Developments

On April 26, 2012, staff learned that Mark Elston of Elston Auction Company was recently contacted by the Barland family to perform two auctions. Staff contacted Mr. Elston and was advised that the first auction is to occur on May 26, 2012 and the second is to take place on June 24, 2012. The plan is to sell all of the vehicles and large salvage items on May 26th and all of the remaining items including those stored within the house and accessory structures on June 24th.

On May 3, 2012, staff re-contacted Mr. Elston and confirmed that he was still planning to perform the auctions and that the contracts were to be signed on this date. Mr. Elston advised he would inform staff if any issues came about that would prevent him from moving forward with conducting both auctions.

Staff is recommending the compliance date of July 13, 2012 for the exterior yard conditions to be compliant with city code. This date will allow for the Barland family to remove any remaining items that are in violation that were not sold at one of the two auctions. Failure to comply by that date will result in the city abating the remaining code violations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Ozstatman]

Link to Auction details - May 26 - Elston Auctions

[Guest BJM]

Is the red car with red/white interior a 56 400 ?

The one white / light blue 56 -- is that an Executive or a Clipper?

[Guest BJM]

Did anyone on this community go to the auction or hear about the results?

[Guest Killerbunny]

Here is some more information:

Memorandum

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[HH56]

Links to a couple of news articles mentioning a few sold are on the packardinfo forum Packard Motor Car Information - City Council conders fate of Packards [Packard Forums - General]

Edited May 28, 2012 by HH56 (see edit history)