Penn Twp. has novel strategy to save Red Rose Inn

It's a familiar story.

A historic building lies empty. Decaying. The target of vandalism.

Activists rally to save the property, fighting an uphill battle.

Or at least, that's how the story line usually plays out.

But the campaign to save the Red Rose Inn in Chester County's rural Penn Township has taken a different turn.

Yes, the building is pretty old. It dates to the time when a grandson of William Penn leased the land, paying one red rose a year in rent.

And it's pretty dilapidated. Right off Route 1, the three-story redbrick-and-wood structure sits in waist-high grass, with most windows boarded up or cracked and vines slowly creeping inside.

But in this case, the township's Board of Supervisors has thrust itself into the fight, proposing a novel legal maneuver that would involve condemning the building as a means of preserving it.

On June 15, the board approved a resolution to take the property through eminent domain. A fair market value will be determined and paid to the current owner.

The plan, Board Chairman Curtis A. Mason Sr. said, is to convert the structure into township administrative offices.

The township also plans to realign a nearby intersection, which will require moving part of the building.

"We need a community focal point, and this fits the mold as far as we're concerned," Mason said, adding that "this place is right dead center of our township."

Though a municipality normally wouldn't be allowed to condemn a property to preserve it, taking it for a "public use" would make everything kosher, Township Solicitor R. Samuel McMichael said.

(Mason cautioned that the township might not use eminent domain if it works out a deal to buy the property and said he was not sure how much the project would cost. The property owner, Linda Mutascio, has not said what she would sell it for.)

Preservation activists are enthusiastic about this approach.

"It's fantastically proactive of a government," said Ben Leech, advocacy director for the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. "I applaud them for it."

He said he couldn't think of another local municipality that had used eminent domain as a preservation tool.

Neither could Dave Kimmerly, Preservation Pennsylvania's local field representative.

"This is kind of unusual . . . but I think it's a good idea," he said.

Not everyone is happy about this turn of events - least of all Mutascio, who ran a restaurant out of the building until it closed two years ago.

Mutascio, 68, said she thought the township would lowball the market value, which Mason denied.

"I thought we lived in a free country, but apparently we don't," Mutascio said of the condemnation plans. She said she could not afford a lawyer at this point to challenge the township's position.

It's unclear whether Mutascio would get a return from the building under any scenario.

Her mortgage lender, Penn Business Credit L.L.C. of Bala Cynwyd is foreclosing on the property. It's owed more than $2 million. An auction is scheduled for July 21.

Mutascio bought the property for $1.3 million in 2004 and later borrowed against it.

She said she thought the sale would net the bank enough money to satisfy the debt and leave extra for her.

A representative of the bank declined to comment.

The property also has tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens against it that will be taken from the proceeds of any sale or condemnation.

Meanwhile, Larry Waltman said he thought the township would be investing in a "bottomless pit," given the building's poor condition.

Waltman lives across the street from the property and was part of an unsuccessful effort to get the neighborhood designated a national historic district several years ago.

Given the building's changes over the years, he said, he doesn't think there's anything historic left saving.

"It might as well be torn down," Waltman said.