By By JAN GRIFFEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Not state officials nor tax attorneys nor even a U.S. Congressman
could secure permission for the removal of the aluminum storefront on
what's known as the D&K Variety store at 115 E. Main St., Niles.
Enter Niles' Scott Clark.
The Fourth Ward City Councilmember has accomplished the seemingly
impossible.
Clark met recently with Francis A. Nekvasil of Niles, who is president of Fawn
Trust, which technically owns the building.
The building is caught up in a legal quagmire. Nekvasil's son, James Nekvasil,
allegedly acquired the building through fraud.
After more than a year's effort on the part of a number of groups and
individuals, it was beginning to look as if the first block of the city's
downtown renovation would have to skip over the building at 115 E. Main Main
Street, leaving a gaping eyesore in the middle of Phase 1 of the project.
However, as a result of Clark's recent meeting with Mrs. Nekvasil, the city
has been given written permission for the storefronts to be removed. That
means the city's project to remove the storefronts in the 100 block of Main
Street can be completed seamlessly.
Clark said he was successful where others were not because he was
persistent.
everything she can to help with the Main Street project," Clark said after
Monday night's City Council meeting.
The news, announced at the end of Monday night's city council meeting, came
as a pleasant surprise to Lisa Croteau, an official of the Downtown
Development Authority and the Main Street Initiative, who was in the
audience.
downtown. That's really cool," she said.