SOUTH BEND Â? The First Bank building downtown is no longer an option for the Family Justice Center, which would gather about 20 services to support victims of domestic violence.
Leaders of the center said Thursday theyÂ?ve negotiated with the owner, 1st Source Bank, but cannot reach agreeable terms.
This ends more than a year of negotiations, public debate about security for abused clients at the site and county skepticism over whether it could afford the price.
Now the Family Justice Center is exploring the lease of another building less than a mile from downtown, said Catherine Wilson, spokeswoman for the St. Joseph County ProsecutorÂ?s Office, which has spearheaded the effort.
That is still under negotiation, and the centerÂ?s security committee toured the site Thursday to see if it could be secure enough, Wilson said.
It would be a lot less expensive in the short term than the lease or purchase of the First Bank building, Wilson said. But officials had argued that purchasing a building would be a wiser investment and more sustainable.
The six-story First Bank edifice sits at Jefferson Boulevard and Main Street. Family Justice Center leaders were proposing to buy it at a price of $3.075 million, of which $500,000 would come from a federal grant and the rest from the county.
The deal killer came May 9 when the St. Joseph County Council voted to cap the price at $2.5 million.
1st Source had previously decided Â? and told some council members Â? that it wouldnÂ?t go below $3 million, said Doug Way, president and manager of administrative services for 1st Source. It already had dropped its price from $3.2 million.
Since the County CouncilÂ?s decision, the Family Justice Center and 1st Source have been trying to negotiate an agreement to lease the 15,000 square feet the center would need in the First Bank building (almost 20 percent of the building), Wilson said.
Way said that center officials wanted to have an option to buy the building but couldnÂ?t afford it in the time required by the bank.
Â?I donÂ?t believe it was for lack of trying on either side,Â? Wilson said. Â?I donÂ?t think this is an effort to keep us out of the building.Â?
Way said the building remains for sale.
Local officials had understood that they would lose the ability to use $125,000 of their federal grant for rent if they didnÂ?t have a building contract by June 30. TheyÂ?d still have the money Â? just not for rent. Wilson said they are working with federal officials to see what flexibility they have.
The centerÂ?s leaders and federal officials had said the site was a prime location for the center Â? 80 paces from the county courthouse, giving victims safety and support as they sought help from prosecutors and police.
Pat Berg Yapp, who served as the centerÂ?s director until May, said loss of the building is Â?heartbreaking.Â?
In her year and a half on the project, she said she received offers of support from Â?hundreds of peopleÂ? who had been abused Â? including doctors, professors and small business owners.
She said of the County Council: Â?I donÂ?t think they ever saw this as a public safety issue. Â? At the same meeting, they were concerned about second-hand smoke (a smoking ordinance), but they werenÂ?t concerned about first-hand violence.Â?
Yapp said she was laid off in May as federal officials froze the centerÂ?s funds because of the stalled building deal. Then her husband accepted another job in Illinois, and she told the board she would be leaving.
Staff writer Joseph Dits: